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SCRIPTURAL  E'44? 


STATISTICAL   VIEWS 

FAVOR  OF  SLAVERY,^ 

7 

BY 

THORNTON  OTRINGFELLOW,  D.  D. 


Fourth  edition,  with  additions. 


J.   W.   RANDOLPH: 

121    MAIN    STREET,   RICHMOND,    VA 

1856. 


CLEMMlTT,  PRINTER. 


SCRIPTURAL  VIEW. 


o 


SCRIPTURAL  VIEW 


OP 


S  L  A.  "VE  H  Y 


Circumstances  exist  among  the  inhabitants 
of  these  United  States,  which  make  it  proper  that 
the  Scriptures  should  be  carefully  examined  by 
Christians  in  reference  to  the  institution  of  Sla- 
very^ which  exists  in  several  of  the  states,  with 
the  approbation  of  those  who  profess  unlimited 
subjection  to  God's  revealed  will. 

It  is  branded  by  one  portion  of  people,  who 
take  their  rule  of  moral  rectitude  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  a  great  sin  ;  nay,  the  greatest  of  sins 
that  exist  in  the  nation.  And  they  hold  the  obli- 
gation to  exterminate  it,  to  be  paramount  to  all 
others. 

If  slavery  be  thus  sinful,  it  behooves  all  Chris- 
tians who  are  involved  in  the  sin,  to  repent  in 
dust  and  ashes,  and  wTash  their  hands  of  it,  with- 
out consulting  with  flesh  and  blood.  Sin  in  the 
sight  of   God   is   something  w7hich   God   in    his 

Word  makes  known  to  be  wrong,  either  bv  pre- 
a3 


6  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

ceptive  prohibition,  by  principles  of  moral  fitness, 
or  examples  of  inspired  men,  contained  in  tbe 
sacred  volume.  When  these  furnish  no  law  to 
condemn  human  conduct,  there  is  no  transgres- 
sion. Christians  should  produce  a  u  thus  saith 
the  Lord,"  both  for  what  they  condemn  as  sinful, 
and  for  what  they  approve  as  lawful,  in  the  sight 
of  heaven. 
/""  It  is  to  be  hoped,  that  on  a  question  of  such 
vital  importance  as  this  to  the  peace  and  safety 
of  our  common  country,  as  well  as  to  the  welfare 
of  the  church,  we  shall  be  seen  cleaving  to  the 
Bible,  and  taking  all  our  decisions  about  this 
matter,  from  its  inspired  pages.  With  men  from 
the  North,  I  have  observed  for  many  years  a 
palpable  ignorance  of  the  divine  will,  in  reference 
to  the  institution  of  slavery.  I  have  seen  but  a 
few  who  made  the  Bible  their  study,  that  had 
obtained  a  knowledge  of  what  it  did  reveal  on 
this  subject.  Of  late  their  denunciation  of  sla- 
very as  a  sin,  is  loud  and  long. 

I  propose,  therefore,  to  examine  the  sacred  vol- 
ume briefly,  and  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  I 
shall  be  able  to  make  it  appear  that  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  has  received,  in  the  first  place, 

(lsO  The  sanction  of  the  Almighty  in  the 
Patriarchal  age. 

i  23)  That  it  was  incorporated  into  the  only 
Nafional  Constitution  which  ever  emanated  from 

Go4. 
/  3cK  That  its  legality  was  recognized,  and  its 


v- 


OE    SLAVERY.  7 

relative  duties  regulated,  by  Jesus  Christ  in  his 
kingdom  ;  and 

AftK  That  it  is  full  of  mercy. 

T&e"fore  I  proceed  further,  it  is  necessary  that 
the  terms  used  to  designate  the  thing,  be  defined. 
It  is  not  a  name,  but  a  thing,  that  is  denounced 
as  sinful  ;  because  it  is  supposed  to  be  contrary 
to,  and  prohibited  by  the  Scriptures. 

Our  translators  have  used  the  term  servant,  to 
designate  a  state  in  which  persons  were  serving, 
leaving  us  to  gather  the  relation  between  the 
party  sefved,  and  the  party  rendering  the  service, 
from  other  terms.  The  term  slave,  signifies  with. 
us,  a  definite  state,  condition,  or  relation,  which 
state,  condition,  or  relation,  is  precisely  that  one 
which  is  denounced  as  sinful.  This  state,  condi- 
tion, or  relation,  is  that  in  which  one  human 
being  is  held  without  his  consent,  by  another,  as 
property  ;*  to  be  bought,  sold,  and  transferred, 
together  with  increase,  as  property  forever.  Now, 
this  precise  thing,  is  denounced  by  a  portion  of 
the  people  of  these  United  States,  as  the  greatest 

*The  property  in  slaves  in  the  United  States  is  their  service  or  lalor.  The 
Constitution  guarantees  this  property  to  its  owner,  both  in  apprentices  and 
slaves.  And  the  supreme  court  has  decided,  Judge  Baldwin  presiding,  that  alls 
the  means  "  necessary  and  pr<  per"  to  secure  this  property,  may  be  constitution  - 
ally  used  by  the  master,  in  the  absence  of  all  statute  law.  The  Roman  law 
made  the  slave  of  that  law,  to  be,  not  a  personal  chattle,  held  to  service  or  labor 
only,  as  is  the  American  apprentice  or  slave,  but  to  be  a  mere  tiling;  and  gu«L 
anteed  to  the  master  the  right  to  do  with  that  mere  thing,  just  as  he  pleased.^* 
To  cut  it  up,  for  instance,  as  the  master  sometimes  did,  to  feed  fishes. 

Abolitionists  are  guilty  of  the  inexcusable  wickedness  of  holding  up  this 
ancient  Roman  slavery,  as  a  model  of  American  slavery.  Although  they  know, 
that-  the  personal  rights  of  apprentices  and  slaves,  are  as  well  defined  and  se- 
cured, by  judicial  decisions  and  statute  laws,  as  the  rights  of  husband  and  wife, 
parent  and  child."  .<^S 

a4  -'--■ 


b  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

individual  and  national  sin  that  is  among  us,  and 
is  thought  to  be  so  hateful  in  the  sight  of  God,, 
as  to  subject  the  nation  to  ruinous  judgments,  if 
it  be  not  removed.  Now,  I  propose  to  show  from 
the  Scriptures,  that  this  state,  condition,  or  rela- 
tion, did  exist  in  the  patriarchal  age,  and~"that 
trnrpersons  most  extensively  involved  in  the  sin, 
if  it  be  a  sin_,  are  the  very  persons  who  have  been 
singled  outHBy  the  Almighty,  as  the  objectFoF  ITi s 
special  regard — whose  character  and"~!JonTluctn li e 
iiRS  caused  to  be  held  up  as  models  for  future 
generations.  Before  we  conclude  slaverv  to  be  a 
thing  hateful  to  God,  and  a  great  sin  in  nis  sight, 
it  is  proper  that  we  should  search  the  records  he 
has  given  us,  with  care,  to  see  in  what  light  he 
has  looked  upon  it,  and  find  the  warrant  for  con- 
cluding, that  we  shall  honor  him  by  efforts  to 
abolish  it ;  which  efforts,  in  their  consequences, 
may  involve  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the 
innocent  and  the  guilty,  the  master  and  the  ser- 
vant. We  all  believe  him  to  be  a  Being  who  is 
the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever. 

The  first  recorded  language  which  was  ever 
uttered  in  relation  to  slavery,  is  the  inspired  lan- 
guage of  Noah.  In  God's  stead  he  says,  (jCursed 
be  Canaan  j'^j^^  servant  of  servants  shall  he  bo 
t o  iris  b r e th r en . '  'I  '  'Blessed  be  Ml§icj:iLGQd_c)f 
Shem  ;  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant."  "God 
shall  enlarge  Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the 
tents  of  Shorn;  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant," 
Gen.  ix :  25,  26,  27.  Here,  language  is  used, 
showing  the  favor  which  God  would  exercise  to 


OF    SLAVERY. 


tire  posterity  of  Shem  and  Japheth,  while  they 

were  holding  the  posterity  of  Ham  in  a  state  of      '    '' 

ubject  bondage,  f  May  it  not  be  said  in  truth,  that 

God  decreed  this  institution  before  it  existed  ;  and     '         » 

has  he  not  connected  its  existence  with  prophetic  tyy^^tC**^ 

tokens  of  special  •  favor,  to  those  who  should  be 

slave  owners  or  masters  ?/  He  is  the  same  God 

now,  that  he  was  when  he    gave  these  views   of 

his  moral  character  to  the  world  ;  and  unless  the 

posterity  of  Shem  and  Japheth,  from  whom  have 

sprung  the  Jews,  and  all  the   nations  of  Europe 

and  America,   and  a  great   part  of   Asia,    (the 

African  race  that  is  in  them  excepted,) — I  say, 

unless  they  are  all  dead,  as  well  as  the  Canaanites 

or  Africans,  who  descended  from  Ham,  then  it  is 

quite  possible  that  his  favor  may  now  be  found 

with  one  class  of  men  who  are  holding  another      \        s 

class  in  bondage.     Be  this  as  it  may,  God  decreed 

good-will  to  the  master.  The  sacred  records 
occupy  but  a  short  space  from  this  inspired  ray 
on  this  subject,  until  they  bring  to  our  notice,  a 
man_that  is  held  up  as  a  model,  in  all  that  adorns 
human  nature,  and  as  one  that  God  delighted  to  * 
honor.     This  man  is  Abraham,   honored  in  the  , 

sacred  'records,  with  the  appellation,  "Father"  of 
the  "faithful/'  Abraham  was  a  native  of  Ur,  of 
the  Chaldees.  From  thence  the  Lord  called  him 
to  go  to  a  country  which  he  would  show  him  ; 
and  he  obeyed,  not  knowing  whither  he  went. 
He  stopped  for  a  time  at  Haran,  where  his  father 
died.     From  thence  he  il  took  Sarai  his  wife,  and 


a5 


10  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

Lot  his  brother's  son,  and  all  their  substance  that 
they  had  gathered,  and  the  souls  they  had  gotten 
in  Haran,  and  they  went  forth  to  go  into  the 
land  of  Canaan." — Gen.  xii :  5. 

All  the  ancient  Jewish  writers  of  note,  and 
Christian  commentators  agree,  that  by  the  "souls 
they  had  gotten  in  Haran,"  as  our  translators 
render  it,  are  meant  their  slaves,  or  those  persons 
they  had  bought  with  their  money  in  Haran.  In 
a  few  years  after  their  arrival  in  Canaan,  Lot 
with  all  he  had  was  taken  captive.  So  soon  as 
Abraham  heard  it,  he  armed  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  slaves  that  were  born  in  his  house,  and 
2'etook  him.  How  great  must  have  been  the  en- 
tire slave  family,  to  produce  at  this  period  of 
Abraham's  life,  such  a  number  of  young  slaves 
able  to  bear  arms. — Gen.  xiv:  14. 

Abraham  is  constantly  held  up  in  the  sacred 
story,  as  the  subject  of  great  distinction  among 
the  princes  and  sovereigns  of  the  countries  in 
which  he  sojourned.  This  distinction  was  on 
account  of  his  great  wealth.  When  he  proposed 
to  buy  a  burying-ground  at  Sarah's  death,  of  the 
children  of  Heth,  he  stood  up  and  spoke  with 
great  humility  of  himself  as  "a  stranger  and 
sojourner  among  them,"  (Gen.  xxiii:  4,)  desirous 
to  obtain  a  burying-ground.  But  in  what  light 
do  they  look  upon  him  ?  "  Hear  us,  my  Lord, 
thou  art  a  mighty  prince  among  us." — Gen.  xxiii: 
6.  Such  is  the  light  in  which  they  viewed  him. 
What  gave  a  man  such  distinction  among  such  a 
people?     Not  moral   qualities,   but  great  wealth, 


OF    SLAVERY.  11 

and  its  inseparable  concomitant,  power.  When 
the  famine  drove  Abraham  to  Egypt,  he  received 
the  highest  honors  of  the  reigning  sovereign. 
This  honor  at  Pharaoh's  court,  was  called  forth 
by  the  visible  tokens  of  immense  wealth.  In 
Genesis  xii  :  15/  16,  we  have  the  honor  that  was 
shown  to  him,  mentioned,  with  a  list  of  his  prop- 
erty, which  is  given  in  these  words,  in  the  16th 
verse  :  "He  had  sheep,  and  oxen,  and  he-asses, 
and  men-servants,  and^  maid-servants,  and  she- 
asses,  and  camels."  The  amount  of  his  flocks 
may  be  Tnferrecl  from  the  number  of  slaves 
employed  in  tending  them.  They  were  those  he 
brought  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  of  whom  the 
three  hundred  and  eighteen  were  born ;  those 
gotten  in  Haran,  where  he  dwelt  for  a  short  time, 
and  those  which  he  inherited  from  his  father, 
who  died  in  Haran.  When  Abraham  went  up 
from  Egypt,  it  is  stated  in  Genesis  xiii :  2,  that 
lie  was  "very  rich,"  not  only  in  flocks  and  slaves, 
but  in  cc  silver  and  gold'9  also. 

After  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  we  see  him 
sojourning  in  the  kingdom  of  Gerar,  Here  he 
received  from  the  sovereign  of  the  country,  the 
honors  of  equality;  and  Abimelech,  the  king,  (as 
Pharoah  had  done  before  him,)  seeks  Sarah  for  a 
wife,  under  the  idea  that  she  was  Abraham's 
sister.  When  his  mistake  was  discovered,  he 
made  Abraham  a  large  present.  Eeason  will  tell 
us,  that  in  selecting  the  items  of  this  present, 
Abimelech  was  governed  by  the  visible  indica- 
tions of  Abraham's  preference  in  the  articles  of 
a6 


12  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

wealth — and  that  above  all,  he  would  present 
him  with  nothing  which  Abraham's  sense  of 
moral  obligation  would  not  allow  him  to  own. 
Abimelech's  present  is  thus  described  in  Gen.  xx : 
14,  16,  "And  Abimelech  took  sheep,  and  oxen, 
and  men-servants,  and  women-servants,  and  a 
thousand  pieces  of  silver,  and  gave  them  unto 
Abraham."  This  present  discloses  to  us  what 
constituted  the  most  highly  prized  items  of 
wealth,  among  these  eastern  sovereigns  in  Abra- 
ham's day. 

God  had  promised  Abraham's  seed  the  land  of 
Canaan,  and  that  in  his  seed  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  should  be  blessed.  He  reached  the  age 
of  85,  and  his  wife  the  age  of  75,  while  as  yet, 
they  had  no  child.  At  this  period,  Sarah's 
anxiety  for  the  promised  .seed,  in  connection  with 
her  age,  induced  her  to  propose  a  female  slave  of 
the  Egyptian  stock,  as  a  secondary  wife,  from 
which  to  obtain  the  promised  seed.  This  alliance 
soon  puffed  the  slave  with  pride,  and  she  became 
insolent  to  her  mistress — the  mistress  complained 
to  Abraham,  the  master.  Abraham  ordered 
Sarah  to  exercise  her  authority.  Sarah  did  so, 
and  pushed  it  to  severity,  and  the  slave  abscond- 
ed. The  divine  oracles  inform  us,  that  the  angel 
of  God  found  this  runaway  bond-woman  in  the 
wilderness;  and  if  God  had  commissioned  this 
angel  to  improve  this  opportunity  of  teaching 
the  world  how  much  he  abhorred  slavery,  he 
took  a  bad  plan  to  accomplish  it.  For,  instead 
of  repeating  a  homily  upon  doing  to  others  as  we 


OF  SLAVERY.  13 

"would  they  should  do  unto  us/*  and  heaping 
reproach  upon  Sarah,  as  a  hypocrite,  and  Abra- 
ham as  a  tyrant,  and  giving  Hagar  direction  how 
she  might  get  into  Egypt,  from  whence  (accord- 
ing to  Abolitionism)  she  had  been  unrighteously 
sold  into  bondage,  the  angel  addressed  her  as 
"Hagar,  Sarah's  maid,"  Gen.  xvi:  1,  9;  (thereby 
recognizing  the  relation  of  master  and  slave,) 
"and  asks  her,  "whither  wilt  thou  go?"  and  she 
said  UI  flee  from  the  face  of  my  mistress/'  Quite 
a  wonder  she  honored  Sarah  so  much  as  to  call 
her  mistress;  but  she  knew  nothing  of  abolition, 
and  God  by  his  angel  did  not  become  her 
teacher. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  what  may  be  called 
an  abuse  of  the  institution,  in  which  one  person 
is  the  property  of  another,  and  under  their  con- 
trol, and  subject  to  their  authority  without  their 
consent;  and  if  the  Bible  be  the  book,  which 
proposes  to  furnish  the  case  which  leaves  it  with- 
out doubt  that  God  abhors  the  institution,  here 
we  are  to  look  for  it.  What,  therefore,  is  the 
doctrine  in  relation  to  slavery,  in  a  case  in  which 
a  rigid  exercise  of  its  arbitrary  authority  is  called 
forth  upon  a  helpless  female ;  who  might  use  a 
strong  plea  for  protection,  upon  the  ground  of 
being  the  master's  wife.  In  the  face  of  this  case, 
which  is  hedged  around  with  aggravations  as  if 
God  designed  by  it  to  awaken  all  the  sympathy 
and  all  the  abhorrence  of  that  portion  of  man- 
kind, who  claim  to  have  more  mercy  than  God 
himself— but  I  say,  in  view  of  this  strong  case, 


14  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

what  is  the  doctrine  taught?  Is  it  that  God 
abhors  the  institution  of  slavery;  that  it  is  a 
reproach  to  good  men;  that  the  evils  of  the  insti- 
tution can  no  longer  be  winked  at  among  saints; 
that  Abraham's  character  must  not  be  transmit- 
ted to  posterity,  with  this  stain  upon  it ;  that 
Sarah  must  no  longer  be  allowed  to  live  a  stran- 
ger to  the  abhorrence  God  has  for  such  conduct 
as  she  has  been  guilty  of  to  this  poor  helpless 
female?  I  say,  what  is  the  doctrine  taught?  Is 
it  so  plain  that  it  can  be  easily  understood  ?  and 
does  God  teach  that  she  is  a  bond-woman  or 
slave,  and  that  she  is  to  recognize  Sarah  as  her 
mistress,  and  not  her  equal — that  she  must  re- 
turn and  submit  herself  unreservedly  to  Sarah's 
authority?  Judge  for  yourself,  reader,  by  the 
angel's  answer:  ""And  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
said  unto  her,  Return  unto  thy  mistress,  and 
submit  thyself  under  her  hands." — Gen.  xvi:  9. 
But,  says  the  spirit  of  abolition,  with  which 
the  Bible  has  to  contend,  you  are  building  your 
house  upon  the  sand,  for  these  were  nothing  but 
hired  servants  ;  and  their  servitude  designates  no 
such  state,  condition,  or  relation,  as  that,  in 
which  one  person  is  made  the  property  of 
another,  to  be  bought,  sold,  or  transferred  for- 
ever. To  this,  we  have  two  answers  in  reference 
to  the  subject,  before  giving  the  law.  In  the  first 
place,  the  term  servant,  in  the  schedules  of  prop- 
erty among  the  patriarchs,  does  designate  the 
state,  condition,  or  relation  in  which  one  person 
is  the  legal  property  of  another,  as  in  Gen.  xxiv: 


OF  SLAVERY.  15 

35,  36.  Here  Abraham's  servant,  who  had  been 
sent  Jra  his  master  to  get  a  wife  for  his  son  Isaac, 
in  order  to  prevail  with  the  woman  and  her 
family,  states,  that  the  man  for  whom  he  sought 
a  bride,  was  the  son  of  a  man  whom  God  had 
greatly  blessed  with  riches  ;  which  he  goes  on  to 
enumerate  thus,  in  the  35th  verse:  "He  hath 
given  him  flocks,  and  herds,  and  silver,  and  gold, 
and  men-servants,  and  maid-servants,  and  camels, 
and  asses;"  then  in  verse  36th,  he  states  the  dis- 
position his  master  had  mad^  of  his  estate  :  "  My 
master's  wife  bare  a  son  to  my  master  when  she 
was  old,  and  unto  him  he  hath  given  all  that  he 
hath."  Here,  servants  are  enumerated  with  sil- 
ver and  gold  as  part  of  the  patrimony.  And, 
reader,  bear  it  in  mind ;  as  if  to  rebuke  the 
doctrine  of  abolition,  servants  are  not  only  inven- 
toried as  property,  but  as  property  which  God 
had  given  to  Abraham.  After  the  death  of  Abra- 
ham, we  have  a  view  of  Isaac  at  Gerar,  when  he 
had  come  into  the  possession  of  this  estate ;  and 
this  is  the  description  given  of  him :  a  And  the 
man  waxed  great,  and  went  forward,  and  grew 
until  he  became  very  great;  for  he  had  possession 
of  flocks,  and  possession  of  herds  and  great  store  of 
servants." — Gen.  xxvi :  13,  14.  This  state  in 
which  servants  are  made  chattels,  he  received  as 
an  inheritance  from  his  father,  and  passed  to  his 
son  Jacob. 

Again^  in  Genesis  xvii,  we  are  informed  of  a 
covenant  God  entered  into  with  Abraham  ;  in 
which  he  stipulates  to  be  a  God  to  him  and  his 


16  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

seed,  (not  his  servants.)  and  to  give  to  his  seed 
the  land  of  Canaan  for  an  everlasting  possesion. 
He  expressly  Stipulates,  that  Abraham  shall  put 
the  token  of  this  covenant  upon  every  servant 
born  in  his  house,  and  upon  every  servant  bought 
%oith  his  money  of  any  stranger. — Gen.  xvii :  12, 
13.  Here  again  servants  are  property.  Again, 
.more  than  four  hundred  years  afterwards,  we  find 
the  seed  of  Abraham,  on  leaving  Egypt,  directed 
to  celebrate  the  rite,  that  was  ordained  as  a  me- 
morial of  their  deliverance,  viz :  the  Passover 
sit  which  time  the  same  institution  which  makes 
property  of  men  and  women,  is  recognized,  and  the 
servant  bought  with  money,  is  given  the  privilege 
of  partaking,  upon  the  ground  of  his  being  cir- 
cumcised by  his  master,  while  the  hired  servant, 
over  whom  the  master  had  no  such  control,  is 
excluded  until  he  voluntarily  submits  to  circum- 
cision; showing  clearly  that  the  institution  of 
involuntary  slavery  then  carried  with  it  a  right, 
on  the  part  of  a  master  to  choose  a  religion  for 
the  servant  who  was  his  money,  as  Abraham  did, 
by  God's  direction,  when  he  imposed  circumcision 
on  those  he  had  bought  with  his  money, — when 
he  was  circumcised  himself,  with  Ishmael  his  son, 
who  was  the  only  individual  beside  himself,  on 
whom  he  had  a  right  to  impose  it,  except  the 
bond-servants  bought  of  the  stranger  with  his 
money,  and  their  children  born  in  his  house. 
The  next  notice  we  have  of  servants  as  property, 
is  from  God  himself,  when  clothed  with  all  the 
visible  tokens  of  his   presence  and  glory,  on  the 


OE   SLAVERY.  17 

top  of  Sinai,  when  he  proclaimed  his  law  to  the 
millions  that  surrounded  its  base:  "Thou  shalt 
not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  man-servant, 
nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor 
anything  that  is  thy  neighbor's." — Ex.  xx :  17. 
Here  is  a  patriarchal  catalogue  of  property, 
having  God  for  its  author,  the  wife  among  the 
rest,  who  was  then  purchased,  as  Jacob  purchased 
his  two,  by  fourteen  years'  service.  Here  the  term 
servant,  as  used  by  the  Almighty,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case  could  not  be  understood  by 
these  millions,  as  meaning  anything  but  property, 
because  the  night  they  left  Egypt,  a  few  weeks 
before,  Moses,  by  divine  authority,  recognized 
their  servants  as  property,  which  they  had  bought 
with  their  money. 

(2dy  In  addition  to  the  evidence  from  the  con- 
texTof  these,  and  various  other  places,  to  prove 
the  term  servant  to  be  identical  in  the  import  of 
its  essential  particulars  with  the  term  slave 
among  us.,  there  is  unquestionable  evidence,  that 
in  the  patriarchal  age,  there  are  two  distinct  states 
of  servitude  alluded  to,  and  which  are  indicated 
by  two  distinct  terms,  or  hy  the  same  term,  and 
an  adjective  to  explain. 

These  two  terms  are  first,  servant  or  bond-ser- 
vant ;  second,  hireling  or  hired  servant;  the  first 
indicating  involuntary  servitude ;  the  second, 
voluntary  servitude  for  stipulated  wages,  and  a 
specified  time.  Although  this  admits  of  the 
clearest  proof  under  the  law,  yet  it  admits  of  proof 


18  SCRIPTURAL     VIEW 

before  the  law  was  given.  On  the  night  the 
Israelites  left  Egypt,  which  was  before  the  law 
was  given,  Moses,  in  designating  the  qualifica- 
tions necessary  for  the  Passover,  uses  this  lan- 
guage,— Exocl.  xii:  44,  45:  "Every  man's  ser- 
vant that  is  bought  for  money,  when  thou  hast 
circumcised  him,  then  shall  he  eat  thereof.  A 
foreigner  and  an  hired  servant  shall  not  eat 
thereof/'  This  language  carries  to  the  human 
mind,  with  irresistible  force,  the  idea  of  two 
distinct  states — one  a  state  of  freedom,  the  other  a 
state  of  bondage:  in  one  of  which,  a  person  is 
serving  with  his  consent  for  wages  ;  in  the  other 
of  which  a  person  is  serving  without  his  consent, 
according  to  his  master's  pleasure. 

Again,  in  Job  iii,  Job  expresses  the  strong 
desire  he  had  been  made  by  his  afflictions  to  feel, 
that  he  had  died  in  his  infancy.  "For  now,"  says 
he,  "should  I  have  lain  still  and  been  quiet,  I 
should  have  slept :  then  had  I  been  at  rest. 
There  (meaning  the  grave)  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling,  and  there  the  weary  be  at  rest.  There 
the  prisoners  rest  together;  they  hear  not  the 
voice  of  the  oppressor.  The  small  and  the  great 
are  there,  and  the  servant  is  free  from  his  mas- 
ter."—Job  iii :  11,  13,  17,  18,  19.  Now,  I  ask 
any  common-sense  man  to  account  for  the  expres- 
sion in  this  connection,  "  there  the  servant  is  free 
from  his  master."  Afflictions  are  referred  to, 
arising  out  of  states  or  conditions,  from  which 
ordinarily  nothing  but  cleat li  brings  relief.  Death 
puts  an  end  to  afflictions  of  body  that  are  incura- 


OF    SLAVERY.  19 

ble,  as  he  took  his  own  to  be,  and  therefore  he 
desired  it. 

The  troubles  brought  on  good  men  by  a  wicked 
persecuting  world,  last  for  life ;  but  in  death  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling, — death  ends  that 
relation  or  state  out  of  which  such  troubles  grow. 
The  prisoners  of  the  oppressors,  in  that  age,  stood 
in  a  relation  to  their  oppressor,  which  led  the 
oppressed  to  expect  the}'  would  hear  the  voice  of 
the  oppressor  until  death.  But  death  broke  the 
relation,  and  was  desired,  because  in  the  grave 
they  would  hear  his  voice  no  more. 

All  the  distresses  growing  out  of  inequalities 
in  human  condition ;  as  wealth  and  power  on  one 
side,  and  poverty  and  weakness  on  the  other, 
were  terminated  by  death  ;  the  grave  brought 
both  to  a  level :  the  small  and  the  great  are  there, 
and  there,  (that  is,  in  the  grave,)  he  adds,  the 
servant  is  free  from  his  master ;  made  so,  evi- 
dently, by  death.  The  relation,  or  stale  out  of 
which  his  oppression  had  arisen,  being  destroyed 
by  death,  he  would  be  freed  from  them,  because 
he  would,  by  death,  be  freed  from  his  master  who 
inflicted  them.  This  view  of  the  case,  and  this 
only,  will  account  for  the  use  of  such  language. 
But  upon  a  supposition  that  a  state  or  relation 
among  men  is  referred  to,  that  is  voluntary,  such 
as  that  between  a  hired  servant  and  his  employer 
that  can  be  dissolved  at  the  pleasure  of  the  servant, 
the  language  is  without  meaning,  and  perfectly 
unwarranted;  while  such  a  relation  as  that  of  in- 
voluntary and  hereditary  servitude,  where  the  mas- 


20  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

ter  had  unlimited  power  over  his  servant,  and  in 
an  age  when  cruelty  was  common,  there  is  the* 
greatest  propriety  in  making  the  servant  or  slave, 
a  companion  ivith  himself,  in  affliction,  as  well  as 
the  oppressed  and  afflicted,  in  every  class  where 
death  alone  dissolved  the  state  or  condition,  out  of 
which  their  afflictions  grew.  Beyond  all  doubt, 
this  language  refers  to  a  state  of  hereditary  bon- 
dage, from  the  afflictions  of  which,  ordinarily, 
nothing  in  that  day  brought  relief  but  death. 

Again,  in  chapter  7th,  he  goes  on  to  defend 
himself  in  his  eager  desire  for  death,  in  an  address 
to  God.  He  says,  it  is  natural  for  a  servant  to 
desire  the  shadow,  and  a  hireling  his  wages  :  "As 
the  servant  earnestly  desireth  the  shadow,  and 
as  the  hireling  looketh  for  the  reward  of  his 
work,"  so  it  is  with  me,  should  be  supplied. — Job 
vii:  2.  Now,  with  the  previous  light  shed  upon 
the  use  and  meaning  of  these  terms  in  the 
patriarchal  Scriptures,  can  any  man  of  candor 
bring  himself  to  believe  that  two  states  or  con- 
ditions are  not  here  referred  to,  in  one  of  which, 
the  highest  reward  after  toil  is  mere  rest;  in  the 
other  of  which,  the  reward  was  wages  ?  And 
how  appropriate  is  the  language  in  reference  to 
these  two  states. 

The  slave  is  represented  as  earnestly  desiring 
the  shadow,  because  his  condition  allowed  him  no 
prospect  of  anything  more  desirable  ;  but  the 
hireling  as  looking  for  the  reward  of  his  icorh, 
because  that  will  be  an  equivalent  for  his  fatigue. 

So  Job  looked  at  death,  as  being  to  his  body 


OF   SLAVERY.  21 

.  as  the  servant's  shade,  therefore  he  desired  it ; 
and  like  the  hireling's  wages,  because  beyond  the 
grave,  he  hoped  to  reap  the  fruit  of  his  doings. 
Again,  Job  (xxxi :)  finding  himself  the  subject  of 
suspicion  (see  from  verse  1  to  30)  as  to  the  recti- 
tude of  his  past  life,  clears  himself  of  various 
sins,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  as  un chastity, 
injustice  in  his  dealings,  adultery,  contempt  of 
his  servants,  unkindness  to  the  poor,  covetousness, 
the  pride  of  wealth,  &c.  And  in  the  13th,  14th, 
and  15th  verses,  he  thus  expresses  himself:  "If  I 
did  despise  the  cause  of  my  man-servant,  or  my 
maid-servant,  when  they  contended  with  me, 
what  then  shall  I  do  when  God  rises  up  ?  and 
when  he  visiteth,  what  shall  I  answer  him  ?  Did 
not  he  that  made  me  in  the  womb,  make  him  ? 
And  did  not  one  fashion  us  in  the  womb?" 
Taking  this  language  in  connection  with  the 
language  employed  by  Moses,  in  reference  to  the 
institution  of  involuntary  servitude  in  that  age, 
and  especially  in  connection  with  the  language 
which  Moses  employs  after  the  law  teas  given,  and 
what  else  can  be  understood,  than  a  reference  to 
«,  class  of  duties  that  slave  owners  felt  themselves 
above  stooping  to  notice  or  perform,  but  which, 
nevertheless,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  righteous  man 
to  discharge  :  for  whatever  proud  and  wicked  men 
might  think  of  a  poor  servant  that  stood  in  his 
estate,  on  an  equality  with  brutes,  yet,  says  Job,  he 
that  made  me,  made  them,  and  if  I  despise  their 
reasonable  causes  of  complaint,  for  injuries  which 
they  are   made  to   suffer,  and   for   the  redress  of 


22  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

which  I  only  can  be  appealed  to,  then  what  shall  I 
do,  and  how  shall  I  fare,  when  I  carry  my  causes 
of  complaint  to  him  who  is  my  master,  and  to 
whom  only  I  can  go  for  relief?  When  he  visiteth 
me  for  despising  their  cause,  what  shall  I  answer 
him  for  despising  mine?  .  He  means  that  he  would 
feel  self-condemned,  and  would  he  forced  to  admit 
the  justice  of  the  retaliation.  But  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  allusion  is  had  to  hired  servants,  who 
were  voluntarily  working  for  ivages  agreed  upon, 
and  who  were  the  subjects  of  rights  for  the  protection 
of  lohich,  their  appeal  would  he  to  "  the  judges  in 
the  gate,"  as  much  as  any  other  class  of  men, 
then  there  is  no  point  in  the  statement.  For 
doing  that  which  can  he  demanded  as  a  legal  right, 
gives  us  no  claim  to  the  character  of  mercifid 
benefactors.  Job  himself  was  a  great  slave-holder, 
and,  like  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  won  no 
small  portion  of  his  claims  to  character  with  God 
and  men  from  the  manner  in  which  he  discharged 
his  duty  to  his  slaves.  Once  more:  the  conduct 
of  Joseph  in  Egypt,  as  Pharaoh's  counsellor, 
under  all  the  circumstances,  proves  him  a  friend 
to  absolute  slavery,  as  a  form  of  government 
better  adapted  to  the  state  of  the  world  at  that 
time,  than  the  one  which  existed  in  Egypt ;  for 
certain  it  is,  that  he  peaceably  effected  a  change 
in  the  fundamental  law,  by  which  a  state,  condi- 
tion, or  relation  between  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyp- 
tians was  established,  which  answers  to  the  one 
*"  now  denounced  as  sinful  in  the  sight  of  God. 
Being  warned   of   God,  he  gathered   up  all  the 


OF   SLAVERY.  23 

surplus  grain  in  the  years  of  plenty,  and  sold  it 
out  in  the  years  of  famine,  until  he  gathered  up 
all  the  money;  and  when  money  failed,  the 
Egyptians  came  and  said,  "  Give  us  bread  ;"  and 
Joseph  said,  "Grive  your  cattle,  and  I  will  give 
for  your  cattle,  if  money  fail."  When  that  year 
was  ended,  they  came  unto  him  the  second  year, 
and  said,  "  There  is  not  aught  left  in  sight  of  my 
Lord,  hut  our  bodies  and  our  lands.  Buy  us  and 
our  lands  for  bread."  And  Joseph  bought  all  the 
land  of  Egypt  for  Pharoah. 

So  the  land  became  Pharoah's,  and  as  for  the 
people,  he  removed  them  to  cities,  from  onje  end 
of  the  borders  of  Egypt,   even  to  the  other  end 
thereof.     Then   Joseph    said    unto    the    people, 
" Behold!  I  have  bought  you  this  day,  and  your 
•land  for  Pharoah;"  and  they  said,  "we  will  be 
Pharoah's  servants." — See  Gen.  xlvii:  14,  16,  19, 
20,  21,  23,  25.     Having  thus  changed  the  funda- 
mental law,  and  created  a  state  of  entire  depen- 
dence and  hereditary  bondage,  he  enacted  in  his 
sovereign  pleasure,  that  they  should  give  Pharoah    g 
one  part,  and  take  the  other  four  parts  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  earth,  to  themselves.     How  far  the 
hand  of  God  was  in  this  overthrow  of  liberty,  I  {f 
will  not  decide;  but  from  the  fact  that  he  has 
singled   out   the    greatest    slaveholders   of    that 
age,  as  the  objects  of  his  special  favor }\  it  would 
seem    that   the   institution   was   one   furnishing 
great  opportunities  to  exercise   grace  and  glorify 
God,  as  it  still  does;  where  its  duties  are  faith- 
fully dischargedA 


u* 


■* 


24'  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

I  have  been  tedious  on  this  first  proposition, 
but  I  hope  the  importance  of  the  subject  to 
Christians  as  well  as  to  statesmen  will  be  my 
apology.  I  have  written  it,  not  for  victory  over 
an  adversaiy,  or  to  support  error  or  falsehood, 
but  to  gather  up  God's  will  in  reference  to  hold- 
ing men  and  women  in  bondage,  in  the  patriarchal 
age.  Aud  it  is  cleaiv,  in  the  first  place,  that  God 
decreed  this  state  before  it  existed.  Second.  It 
is  clear  that  the  highest  manifestations  of  good- 
will which  he  ever  gave  to  mortal  man,  was 
given  to  Abraham,  in  that  covenant  in  which  he 
required  him  to  circumcise  all  his  male  servants, 
which  he  had  bought  with  his  money,  and  that  were 
born  of  them  in  his  house.  Third.  It  is  certain 
that  he  gave  these  servants  as  property  to  Isaac. 
Fourth.  It  is  certain  that,  as  the  owner  of  these  & 
slaves,  Isaac  received  similar  tokens  of  God's 
favor.  Fifth.  It  is  certain  that  Jacob,  who  in- 
herited from  Isaac  his  father,  received  like  tokens 
of  divine  favor.  Sixth.  It  is  certain,  from  a  fair 
construction  of  language,  that  Job,  who  is  held 
up  by  God  himself  as  a  model  of  human  perfec- 
tion, was  a  great  slaveholder.  Seventh.  It  is  cer- 
tain, when  God  showed  honor,  and  came  down  to 
bless  Jacob's  posterity,  in  taking  them  by  the 
hand  to  lead  them  out  of  Egypt,  they  were  the 
owners  of-  slaves  that  were  bought  with  money,  and 
treated  as  property  ;  which  slaves  were  allowed  of 
God  to  unite  in  celebrating  the  divine  goodness 
to  their  masters,  while  hired  servants  were  exclu- 
ded.    Eighth.  It  is  certain  that  God  interposed  to 


■ 


OF  SLAVERY.  25 

give  Joseph  the  power  in  Egypt,  which  he  used,     < 
to    create    a    state,    or    condition,    among    the 
Egyptians,  which  substantially  agrees  with,  patri- 
archal and  modern  slavery.     Ninth.  It  is  certain, 
that  in  reference  to  this  institution  in  Abraham's 
family,    and   the   surrounding   nations,    for   five 
hundred  years,  it  is  never  censured  in  any  com- 
munication made  from  God  to  men.     Tenth.  It 
is  certain,  when  God  put  &  period  to  that  dispen-      k 
sation,  he  recognized  slaves  as  propertg  on  Mount 
Sinai.     If,  therefore,  it  has  become  sinful  since,      » 
it  cannot  be  from  the  nature  of  the  thing,  but  from 
the  sovereign  pleasure  of  God  in  its  prohibition. 
We  will  therefore  proceed  to  our  second  proposi- 
tion,  which  is —  y_ 

Second.  That  it  was  incorporated  in  the  only  na- 
tional constitution  emanating  from  the  Almighty. 
By  common  consent,  that  portion  of  time  stretch- 
ing from  Noah,  until  the  law  was  given  to  Abra- 
ham's posterity,  at  Mount  Sinai,  is  called  the 
patriarchal  age  ;  this  is  the  period  we  have  re- 
vieived,  in  relation  to  this  subject.  From  the 
giving  of  the  law  until  the  coming  of  Christ,  is 
called  the  Mosaic  or  legal  dispensation.  From 
the  coming  of  Christ  to  the  end  of  time,  is  called 
the  Gospel  dispensation.  The  legal  dispensation 
is  the  period  of  time,  ive  propose  now  to  examine,  in 
reference  to  the  institution  of  involuntary  and 
hereditary  slavery;  in  order  to  ascertain,  whether, 
during  this  period,  it  existed  at  all,  and  if  it  did 
exist,  whether  with  the  divine  sanction,  or  in 
violation  of  the  divine  will.     This  dispensation  is 


26  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

called  the  legal  dispensation,  because  it  was  the 
pleasure  of  God  to  take  Abrabram's  posterity  by 
miraculous  power,  then  numbering  near  three 
millions  of  souls,  and  give  them  a  written  consti- 
tution of  government,  a  country  to  dwell  in,  and 
a  covenant  of  special  protection  and  favor,  for 
their  obedience  to  his  law  until  the  coming  of 
Christ.  The  laws  which  he  gave  them  emanated 
from  his  sovereign  pleasure,  and  were  designed, 
in  the  first  place,  to  make  himself  known  in  his 
essential  perfections;  second,  in  his  moral  charac- 
ter; third,  in  his  relation  to  man;  (and  fourth,  to 
make  known  those  principles  of  action  by  the 
exercise  of  which  man  attains  his  highest  moral 
elevation,  viz:  supreme  love  to  God,  and  love  to 
others  as  to  ourselves.) 

All  the  law  is  nothing  but  a  preceptive  exem- 
plification of  these  two  principles  ^consequently, 
the  existence  of  a  precept  in  the  law,  utterly 
irreconcilable  with  these  principles,  would  destroy 
all  claims  upon  us  for  an  acknowledgment  of  its 
divine  original.}  Jesus  Christ  himself  has  put 
his  finger  upon  these  two  principles  of  human 
conduct,  (Dent,  vi:  5—  Levit.  xix:  18,).  revealed 
in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  decided,  that  on  them 
hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets. 

The  Apostle  Paul  decides  in  reference  to  the 
relative  duties  of  men,  that  whether  written  out 
in  preceptive  form  in  the  law  or  not,  they  are  all 
comprehended  in  this  saying,  viz:  "thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  With  these  views 
to  guide  us,  as  to  the  acknowledged  design  of  the 


OF   SLAVERY.  2t 

law,  viz :  tliat  of  revealing  the  eternal  principles 
of  moral  rectitude,  by  which  human  conduct  is 
to  be  measured,  so  that  sin  may  abound,  or  be 
made  apparent,  and  righteousness  be  ascertained 
or  known,  we  may  safely  conclude,  that  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery,  which  legalizes  the  holding  one 
person  in  bondage  as  property  forever  by  another, 
if  it  be  morally  wrong,  or  at  war  with  the  princi-  * 
pie  which  requires  us  to  love  God  supremely,  and  7**^  Jr 
our  neighbor  as  ourself,  will,  if  noticed  at  all  in  0  -fe$ 

the  law,  be  noticed,  for  the  purpose  of  being  con-  ^^^ 
demned  as  sinful.  ^u^And  if  the  modern  views  of 


+  *~ ** 


abolitionists  be  correct,  we  may  expect  to  find  the 
institution  marked  with  such  tokens  of  divine 
displeasure,  as  will  throw  all  other  sins  into  the 
shade,  as  comparatively  small,  when  laid  by  the 
side  of  this  monster.  What,  then^  is  true?  has 
(rod  ingrafted  hereditary  slavery  upon  the  consti-  — - 
tution  of  government  he  condescended  to  give 
his  chosen  people — that  people,  among  whom  he 
promised  to  dwell,  and  that  he  required  to  be  > 
holy?  I  answer,  he  has.  It  is  clear  and  explicit. 
He  enacts,  first,  that  his  chosen  people  may  take 
their  money,  go  into  the  slave  markets  of  the 
surrounding  nations,  (the  seven  devoted  nations 
excepted,)  and  purchase  men-servants  and  wo- 
mA-servants,  and  give  them,  and  their  increase, 
to  their  children  and  their  children's  children, 
forever  ;  and  worse  still  for  the  refined  humanity 
of  our  age — he  guarantees  to  the  foreign  slave- 
holder-perfect   protection,    while    he    comes   in 

among  the  Israelites,  for  the  purpose  of  dwelling, 
b2 


28  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

and  raising  and  selling  slaves,  who  should  be 
acclimated  and  accustomed  to  the  habits  and 
institutions  of  the  country.  And  worse  still  for 
the  sublimated  humanity  of  the  present  age,  God 
passes  with  the  right  to  buy  and  possess,  the 
right  to  govern,  by  a  severity  which  knows  no 
bounds  but  the  master's  discretion.  And  if 
worse  can  be,  for  the  morbid  humanity  we  cen- 
sure, he  enacts  that  his  own  people  may  sell 
themselves  and  their  families  for  limited  periods, 
with  the  privilege  of  extending  the  time  at  the 
end  of  the  sixth  year  to  the  fiftieth  year  or 
jubilee,  if  they  prefer  bondage  to  freedom.  Such 
is  the  precise  character  of  two  institutions,  found 
in  the  constitution  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth, 
emanating  directly  from  Almighty  God.  For 
the  fifteen  hundred  years,  during  which  these 
laws  were  in  force3  God  raised  up  a  succession  of 
prophets  to  reprove  that  people  for  the  various 
sins  into  which  they  fell ;  yet  there  is  not  a  re- 
proof uttered  against  the  institution  of  involun- 
tary slavery,  for  any  species  of  abuse  that  ever 
grew  out  of  it.  A  severe  judgment  is  pronounced 
by  Jeremiah,  (chapter  xxxiv:  see  from  the  8th  to 
the  22cl  verse,)  for  an  abuse  or  violation  of  the 
law,  concerning  the  voluntary  servitude  of  He- 
brews ;  but  the  prophet  pens  it  with  caution*  as 
if  to  show  that  it  had  no  reference  to  any  abuse 
that  had  taken  place  under  the  system  of  in- 
voluntary slavery,  which  existed  by  law  among 
that  people;  the  sin  consisted  in  making. heredi- 
tary bond-men   and    bond-women    of   Hebrews, 


OF   SLAVERY.  29 

which  was  positively  forbidden  by  the  law,  and 
not  for  buying  and  holding  one  of  another 
nation  in  hereditary  bondage,  which  was  as 
positively  allowed  by  the  law.  And  really,  in 
view  of  what  is  passing  in  our  countrv,  and  else- 
where, among  men  who  profess  to  reverence  the 
Bible,  it  would  seem  that  these  must  be  dreams 
of  a  distempered  brain,  and  not  the  solemn  truths 
of  that  sacred  book. 

Well,  I  will  now  proceed  to  make  them  good 
to  the  letter,  see  Lev.  xxv:  44,  45,  46;  "Thy 
bond-men  and  thy  bond-maids  which  thou  shalt 
have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that 'are  round 
about  you:  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bond-men  and 
bond-maids.  Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the 
strangers  that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them 
shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families  that  are  with 
you,  which  they  begat  in  your  land.  And  they 
shall  be  your  possession.  And  ye  shall  take 
them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children  after 
you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession,  they  shall 
be  your  bond-men  forever/'  I  ask  any  candid 
man,  if  the  words  of  this  institution  could  be 
more  explicit?  It  is  from  God  himself;  it 
authorizes  that  people,  to  whom  he  had  become 
king  and  law-giver,  to  purchase  men  and  women 
as  property;  to  hold  them  and  their  posterity  in 
bondage ;  and  to  will  them  to  their  children  as  a 
possession  forever ;  and  more,  it  allows  foreign 
slaveholders  to  settle  and  live  among  them;  to  breed 
slaves  and  sell  them.     Now,  it  is  important  to  a 

correct  understanding  of  this  subject,  to  connect 
b3 


30  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

with  the  right  to  buy  and  possess,  as  property,  the 
amount  of  authority  to  govern,  which  is  granted 
hy  the  laiv-giver;  this  amount  of  authority  is 
implied,  *in  the  first  place,  in  the  law  which 
prohibits  the  exercise  of  rigid  authority  upon 
the  Hebrews.,  who  are  allowed  to  sell  themselves 
for  limited  times.  "If  thy  brother  be  waxen  poor, 
and  be  sold  unto  thee,  thou  shalt  not  compel  him 
to  serve  as  a  bond  servant,  but  as  a  hired  servant, 
and  as  a  sojourner  he  shall  be  with  thee,  and  shall 
serve  thee  until  the  year  of  jubilee — they  shall  not 
be  sold  as  bond-men;  thou  shalt  not  rule  over  them 
with  rigorr—  Levit.  xxv:  39,  40,  41,  42,  43.  It 
will  be  evident  to  all,  that  here  are  two  states  of 
servitude;  in  reference  to  one  of  which,  rigid  or 
compulsory  authority,  is  prohibited,  and  that  its 
exercise  is  authorized  in  the  other. 

Second.  In  the  criminal  code,  that  conduct  is 
punished  with  death,  when  done  to  a  freeman, 
which  is  not  punishable  at  all,  when  done  by  a 
master  to  a  slave,  for  the  express  reason,  that  the 
slave  is  the  master  s  money.  "  He  that  smiteth  a 
man  so  that  he  die,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death/ ' 
Exod.  xxi :  11,  12.  ''If  a  man  smite  his  servant 
or  his  maid,  with  a  rod,  and  he  die  under  his 
hand,  he  shall  be  surely  punished  ;  notwithstand- 
ing, if  he  continue  a  clay  or  two,  he  shall  not  be 
punished,  for  he  is  his  money." — Exod.  xxi:  20. 
Here  is  precisely  the  same  crime  :  smiting  a  man 
so  that  he  die  ;  if  it  be  a  freeman,  he  shall  surely 
be  put  to  death,  whether  the  man  die  under  his 
hand,  or  live  a  day  or  two   after ;  but  if  it  be  a 


OF   SLAVERY.  31 

servant,  and  the  master  continued  the  rod  until 
the  servant  died  under  his  hand,  then  it  must  be 
evident  that  such  a  chastisement  could  not  he 
necessary  for  any  purpose  of  wholesome  or  reason- 
able authority;  and  therefore  he  may  be  punished, 
but  not  with  death.  X  But  if  the  death  did  not 
take  place  for  a  day  or  two,  then  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed, that  the  master  only  aimed  to  use  the  rod, 
so  far  as  was  necessary  to  produce  subordination, 
and  for  this,  the  law  which  allowed  him  to  lay 
out  his  money  in  the  slave,  would  protect  him 
against  all  punishment.  This  is  the  common- 
sense  principle  which  has  been  adopted  substan- 
tially in  civilized  countries,  where  involuntary 
slavery  has  been  instituted,  from  that  day  until 
this.  Now,  here  are  laws  that  authorize  the 
holding  of  men  and  women  in  bondage,  and 
chastising  them  with  the  rod,  with  a  severity  that 
terminates  in  death.  And  he  who  believes  the 
Bible  to  be  of  divine  authority,  believes  these 
laws  were  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  Moses.  I 
understand  modern  abolition  sentiments  J;o  be 
sentiments  of  marked  hatred  against  such  laws  ; 
to  be  sentiments  which  would  hold  God  himself 
in  abhorrence,  if  he  were  to  give  such  laws  his 
sanction ;  but  he  has  given  them  his  sanction  ; 
therefore,  they  must  be  in  harmony  with  his 
moral  character.  Again,  the  divine  Lawgiver,  in 
guarding  the  property  right  in  slaves  among  his 
chosen  people,  sanctions  principles  which  may 
work  the  separation  of  man  and  wife,  father  and 

children.     Surely  my  reader  will  conclude^  if   I 
b4      " 


+■ 


'   r 


32  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

\  f  make  this  goody  I  shall  force  a  part  of  the  saints 
of  the  present  day  to  blaspheme  the  God  of  Israel. 
All  I  can  say  is,  truth  is  mighty,  and  I  hope  it 
will  bring  us  all  to  say,  let  God  be  true,  in 
settling  the  true  principles  of  humanity,  and 
every  man  a  liar  who  says  slavery  was  inconsis- 
tent with  it,  in  the  days  of  the  Mosaic  law.  Now 
for  the  proof :  u  If  thou  buy  a  Hebrew  servant, 
six  years  shall  he  serve  thee,  and  in  the  seventh 
he  shall  go  out  free  for  nothing  ;  if  he  came  in 
by  himself,  he  shall  go  out  by  himself;  if  he 
were  married,  then  his  wife  shall  go  out  with 
him ;  if  his  master  have  given  him  a  wife  (one  of 
his  bond-maids)  and  she  have  borne  him  sons  and 
daughters,  the  wife  and  her  children  shall  be  her 
master's  and  he  shall  go  out  by  himself." — Exod. 
xxi:  2,  3,  4.  Now,  the  God  of  Israel  gives  this 
man  the  option  of  being  separated  by  the  master, 
from  his  wife  and  children,  or  becoming  himself 
a  servant  forever,  with  a  mark  of  the  fact,  like 
our  cattle,  in  the  ear,  that  can  be  seen  wherever 
he  goes  ;  for  it  is  enacted,  u  If  the  servant  shall 
plainly  say,  I  love  my  master,  my  wife,  and  my 
children,  I  will  not  go  out  free,  then  his  master 
shall  bring  him  unto  the  judges,  (in  open  court,) 
he  shall  also  bring  him  unto  the  door,  or  unto  the 
door  post,  (so  that  alL  in  the  court-house,  and 
those  in  the  yard  may  be  witnesses,  and  his  mas- 
ter shall  bore  his  ear  through  with  an  awl ;  and 
he  shall  serve  him  forever."  It  is  useless  to 
spend  more  time  in  gathering  up  what  is  written 


OP   SLAVERY.  33 

in  the  Scriptures  on  this  subject,  from  the  giving 
of  the  law  until  the  coming  of  Christ. 

Here  is  the  authority,  from  God  himself,  to 
hold  men  and  women,  and  their  increase,  in 
slavery,  and  to  transmit  them  as  property  forever; 
here  is  plenary  power  to  govern  them,  whatever 
measure-  of  severity  it  may  require  ;  provided 
only,  that  to  govern,  he  the  object  in  exercising  it. 
Here  is/power  given  to  the  master,  to  separate 
man  arid  wife,  parent  and  child,!  by  denying 
ingress  to  his  premises,  sooner  than  compel  him 
to  free  or  sell  the  mother,  that  the  marriage 
relation  might  be  honored.  (The  preference  is 
given  of  God  to  enslaving  the  father  rather  than 
freeing  the  mother  and  children.} 

Under  every  view  we  are  allowed  to  take  of  the 
subject,  the  conviction  is  forced  upon  the  mind, 
that  from  Abraham's  day,  until  the  coming  of 
Christ,  (a  period  of  two  thousand  years,)  this 
institution  found  favor  with  God.  No  marks  of 
his  displeasure  are  found  resting  upon  it.  It 
must,  therefore,  in  its  moral  nature,  be .  in  har- 
mony with  those  moral  principles  which  he 
requires  to  be  exercised  by  the  law  of  Moses,  and 
which  are  the  principles  that  secure  harmony  and 
happiness  to  the  universe,  viz :  supreme  love  to 
God,  and  the  love  of  our  neighbor  as  ourself. — 
Deut.  vi :  6. — Levit.  xix :  18.  To  suppose  that 
God  has  laid  down  these  fundamental  principles 
of  moral  rectitude  in  his  law,  as  the  soul  that 
must  inhabit  every  preceptive  requirement  of  that 
law,#  and   yet   to   suppose   he(  created) relations 


'?• 


fit,* 


34  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

among  the  Israelites,  and  prescribed  relative 
duties  growing  out  of  these  relations,  that  are 
hostile  to  the  spirit  of  the  law,  is  to  suppose  what 
will  never  bring  great  honor  or  glory  to  our 
Maker.  But  if  I  understand  that  spirit  which  is 
now  warring  against  slavery,  this  is  the  position 
which  the  spirit  of  God  forces  it  to  occupy,  viz  : 
that  God  has  ordained  slavery,  and  yet  slavery  is 
the  greatest  of  sins.  Such  was  the  state  of  the 
v*+£  case  when  Jesus  Christ  made  his  appearance. 
*      We  propose — 

3  Third.  To  show  that  Jesus  Christ  recognized 

this   institution   as  one   that  was  lawful  among 
men,  and  regulated  its  relative  duties. 

Having  shown  from  the  Scriptures,  that  slavery 
existed  with  Abraham  and  the  patriarchs,  with 
divine  approbation,  and  having  shown  from  the 
same  source,  that  the  Almighty  incorporated  it  in 
the  law,  as  an  institution  among  Abraham's  seed, 
until  the  coming  of  Christ,  our  precise  object  now 
is,  to  ascertain  whether  Jesus  Christ  has  abolished 
it,  or  recognized  it  as  a  lawful  relation,  existing 
among  men,  and  prescribed  duties  which  belong 
to  it,  as  he  has  other  relative  duties  ;  such  as 
those  between  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child, 
magistrate  and  subject. 

And  first,  I  may  take  it  for  granted,  without 
proof,  that  he  has  not  abolished  it  by  command- 
ment, for  none  pretend  to  this.  This,  by  the 
way,  is  a  singular  circumstance,  that  Jesus  Christ 
should  put  a  system  of  measures  into  operation, 


OF    SLAVERY. 


which,  have  for  their  object  the  subjugation  of  all 
men  to  him  as  a  law-giver — kings,  legislators, 
and  private  citizens  in  all  nations ;  at  a  time,  too,  , 

when  hereditary  slavery  existed  in  all ;  and  after    f)    .JUL*- 
it  had  been  incorporated  for  fifteen  hundred  years  s'     . 
into  the  Jewish  Constitution,  immediately  given     J  l/^if 
by  God  himself.     I  say,  it  is  passing  strange,  that 
under  such   circumstances,    Jesus  should    fail  to 
prohibit  its  further  existence,  if  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  abolish  it.     Such  an  omission  or  oversight 
cannot  be  charged  upon  any  other  legislator  the 
world  has  ever  seen.      But,  says  the  Abolitionist^ 
he  has  introduced  new  moral  principles,   which 
will  extinguish  it  as  an  unavoidable  consequence, 
without  a  direct  prohibitory  command.      What 
are  they?    "Do   to   others   as   you   would   they 
should   do   to   you."      Taking   these   words    of 
Christ  to  be  a  body,  inclosing  a  moral  soul  inj 
them,  what  soul,  I  ask,  is  it? 

The  same  embodied  in  these  words  of  Moses, 
Levit.  xix:  18;  "thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself;"  or  is  it  another  ?  It  cannot  be  another, 
but  it  must  be  the  very  same,  because  Jesus  says, 
there  are  but  two  principles  in  being  in  God's 
moral  government^  one  including  all  that  is  due 
to  God,  the  other  all  that  is  due  to  men. 

If,  therefore,  doing  to  others  as  we  would  they 

should  do  to  us,  means  precisely  what  loving  our 

neighbor  as  ourself  means,  then  Jesus  has  added 

no  new  moral  principle  above  those  in  the  law  of 

Moses,  to  prohibit  slavery,  for  in  his  law  is  found 

this  principle,  and  slavery  also. 
b6 


SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 


w 


I 


The  very  God  that  said  to  them,  they  should 
love  him  supremely,  and  their  neighbors  as  them- 
selves, said  to  them  also,VVof  the  heathen  that 
are  round  about  you,  thou  shalt  buy  bond-men 
and  bond-womenAand  they  shall  be  your  posses- 

'      sion,  and  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for 
your  children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  as  a  pos- 

I  session;  they  shall  be  your  bond-men  forever." 
Now,  to  suppose  that  Jesus  Christ  left  his 
*  disciples  to  find  out,  without  a  revelation,  that 
slavery  must  be  abolished,  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence from  the  fact,  that  when  God  established 
the  relation  of  master  and  servant  under  the  law, 
he  said  to  the  master  and  servant,  each  of  you 
must  love  the  other  as  yourself,  is,  to  say  the 
least,  making  Jesus  to  presume  largely  upon  the 
intensity  of  their  intellect,  that  they  would  be 
able  to  spy  out  a  discrepancy  in  the  law  of  Moses, 
which  God  himself  never  saw.  Again:  if  "do 
to  others  as  ye  would  they  should  do  to  you/'  is 
to  abolish  slavery,  it  will  for  the  same  reason, 
level  all  inequalities  in  human  condition.  It  is 
not  to  be  admitted,  then,  that  Jesus  Christ 
introduced  any  new  moral  principle  that  must, 
of  necessity,  abolish  slavery.  The  principle  re- 
lied on  to  prove  it,  stands  boldly  out  to  view  in 
the  code  of  Moses,  as  the  soul,  that  must  regulate, 
and  control,  the  relation  of  master  and  servant, 
and  therefore  cannot  abolish  it. 

Why  a  master  cannot  do  to  a  servant,  or  a  ser- 
vant to  a  master,  as  he  would  have  them  do  to 
him,  as  soon  as  a  wife  to  a  husband  or  a  husband 


OF   SLAVERY.  3 7 

to  a  wife,  I  am  utterly  at  a  loss  to  know.  The 
wife  is  "subject  to  her  husband  in  all  things"  by 
divine  precept.  He  is  her  "head,"  and  God 
"suffers  her  not  to  usurp  authority  over  him." 
Now,  why  in  such  a  relation  as  this,  we  can  do  to 
others  as  ive  would  they  should  do  to  us,  any 
sooner  than  in  a  relation,  securing  to  us  what  is 
just  and  equal  as  servants,  and  due  respect  and 
faithful  service  rendered  with  good  will  to  us  as 
masters,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conceive.  I  affirm 
then,  first,  (and  no  man  denies,)  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  not  abolished  slavery  by  a  prohibitory 
command:  and  second,  I  affirm,  he  has  intro- 
duced no  new  moral  prinriple  which  can  work  its 
destruction,  under  the  gospel  dispensation;  and 
that  the  principle  relied  on  for  this  purpose,  is  a 
fundamental  principle  of  the  Mosaic  law,  under 
which  slavery  was  instituted  by  Jehovah  himself: 
and  third,  with  this  absence  of  positive  prohibi- 
tion, and  this  absence  of  principle,  to  work  its 
ruin,  I  affirm,  that  in  all  the  Koman  provinces, 
where  churches  were  planted  by  the  Apostles, 
hereditary  slavery  existed,  as  it  did  among  the 
Jews,  and  as  it  does  now  among  us,  (which 
admits  of  proof  from  history  that  no  man  will 
dispute  who  knows  anything  of  the  matter,)  and 
that  in  instructing  such  churches,  the  Holy  G-host 
by  the  Apostles,  has  recognized  the  institution,  as 
one  legally  existing  among  them,  to  be  perpetuated 
in  the  church,  and  that  its-  duties  are  prescribed. 
Now  for  the  proof:  To  the  church  planted  at 
Ephesus,    the   capital  of  the  lesser  Asia,   Paul 


38  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

ordains  by  letter,  subordination  in  the  fear  of 
God, — first  between  wife  and  husband;  second, 
child  and  parent ;  third,  servant  and  master  ; 
all,  as  states,  or  conditions,  existing  among  the 
members. 

The  relative  duties  of  each  state,  are  pointed 
out;  those  between  the  servant  and  master  in 
these  words  :  "  Servants  be  obedient  to  them  who 
are  your  masters,  according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear 
and  trembling,  .in  singleness  of  your  heart  as 
unto  Christ;  not  with  eye  service  as  men  pleas- 
ers,  but  as  the  servants  of  Christ,  doing  the  will 
of  God  from  the  heart,  with  good  will,  doing 
service,  as  to  the  Lord  and  not  to  men,  knowing 
that  whatsoever  good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the 
same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be 
bond  or  free.  And  ye  masters  do  the  same  things 
to  them,  forbearing  threatening,  knowing  that 
your  master  is  also  in  heaven,  neither  is  there 
respect  of  persons  with  him."  Here,  by  the  Eo- 
man  law,  the  servant  was  property,  and  the  con- 
trol of  the  master  unlimited,  as  we  shall  presently 
prove. 

To  the  church  at  Colosse,  a  city  of  Phrygia,  in 
the  lesser  Asia, — Paul  in  his  letter  to  them, 
recognizes  the  three  relations  of  wives  and  hus- 
bands, parents  and  children,  servants  and  mas- 
ters, as  relations  existing  among  the  members; 
(here  the  Koman  law  was  the  same  ;)  and  to  the 
servants  and  masters  he  thus  writes  :  iC  Servants 
obey  in  all  things  your  masters,  according  to 
the  flesh:  not  with  eye  service,  as  men  pleasers, 


OF   SLAVERY.  39 

but  in  singleness  of  heart,  fearing  God :  and 
whatsoever  you  do,  do  it  heartily,  as  to  the  Lord 
and  not  unto  men ;  knowing  that  of  the  Lord  ye 
shall  receive  the  reward  of  the  inheritance,  for  ye 
serve  the  Lord  Christ.  But  he  that  doeth  wrong 
shall  receive  for  the  wrong  he  has  done  ;  and 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  God.  Masters 
give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and 
equals  knowing  that  you  also  have  a  master  in 
heaven." 

The  same  Apostle  writes  a  letter  to  the  church 
at  Corinth ; — a  very  important  city,  formerly 
called  the  eye  of  Greece,  either  from  its  location, 
or  intelligence,  or  both,  and  consequently,  an 
important  point,  for  radiating  light  in  all  direc- 
tionS;  in  reference  to  subjects  connected  with  the 
cause  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  particularly,  in  the 
bearing  of  its  practical  precepts  on  civil  society, 
and  the  political  structure  of  nations.  Under 
the  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  instructs  the 
churchy  that,  on  this  particular  subject,  one 
general  principle  was  ordained  of  God,  applicable 
alike  in  all  countries  and  at  all  stages  of  the 
church's  future  history,  and  that  it  was  this:  uas 
the  Lord  has  called  every  one,  so  let  him  walk*' 
"Let  every. man  abide  in  the  same  calling  where- 
in he  is  called."  "Let  every  man  wherein  he  is 
called,  therein  abide  with  God." — 1  Cor.  vii:  17, 
20,  24.  "And  so  ordain  I  in  all  churches;"  vii: 
Vj.     The  Apostle  thus  explains  his  meaning  : 

uIs  any  man  called  being  circumcised?  Let 
him  not  become  uncircumcised." 


40  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

"Is  any  man  called  in  uncircumcision?  Let 
him  not  be  circumcised." 

"Art  thou  called,  being  a  servant?  Care  not 
for  it,  but  if  thou  mayst  be  made  free,  use  it 
rather;"  vii:  18,  21.  Here,  by  the  Koman  law, 
slaves  were  property, — yet  Paul  ordains,  in  this 
and  all  other  churches,  that  Christianity  gave 
them  no  title  to  freedom,  but  on  the  contrary, 
required  them  not  to  care  for  being  slaves,  or  in 
other  words,  to  be  contented  with  their  state,  or 
relation,  unless  they  could  be  made  free,  in  a  law- 
ful way. 

Again,  we  have  a  letter  by  Peter,  who  is  the 
Apostle  of  the  circumcision — addressed  especially 
to  the  Jews,  who  were  scattered  through  various 
provinces  of  the  Eoman  empire;  comprising  those 
provinces  especially,  which  were  the  theatre  of 
their  dispersion,  under  the  Assyrians  and  Baby- 
lonians. Here,  for  the  space  of  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  years,  they  had  resided,  during  which 
time,  those  revolutions  were  in  progress  which 
terminated  the  Babylonian,  Medo-Persian,  and 
Macedonian  empires,  and  transferred  imperial 
power  to  Borne.  These  revolutionary  scenes  of 
violence  left  one  half  the  human  race  (within  the 
range  of  their  influence,)  in  abject  bondage  to 
the  other  half.  This  was  the  state  of  things  in 
these  provinces  addressed  by  Peter,  when  he 
wrote.  The  chances  of  war,  we  may  reasonably 
conclude,  had  assigned  a  full  share  of  bondage  to 
this  people,  who  were  despised  of  all  nations. 
In  view  of  their  enslaved  condition  to  the  Gen- 


OF   SLAVERY.  41 

tiles ;  knowing,  as  Peter  did,  their  seditious 
character;  foreseeing,  from  the  prediction  of  the 
Saviour,  the  destined  bondage  of  those  who  were 
then  free  in  .Israel,  which  was  soon  to  take  place, 
as  it  did,  in  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  when  all  the 
males  of  seventeen,  were  sent  to  work  in  the 
mines  of  Egypt,  as  slaves  to  the  State,  and  all 
the  males  under,  amounting  to  upwards  of 
ninety-seven  thousand,  were  sold  into  domestic 
bondage ; — I  say,  in  view  of  these  things,  Peter 
was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  write  to  them, 
and  his  solicitude  for  such  of  them  as  were  in 
slavery,  is  very  conspicuous  in  his  letter;  (read 
carefully  from  1st  Peter,  2d  chapter,  from  the 
13th  verse  to  the  end;)  but  it  is  not  the  solicitude 
of  an  abolitionist.  He  thus  addresses  them : 
"Dearly  beloved,  I  beseech  you."  He  thus  in- 
structs them:  ic Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordi- 
nance of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake."  "For  so  is 
the  will  of  God."  u Servants,  be  subject  to  your 
masters  with  all  fear,  not  only  to  the  good  and 
gentle,  but  also  to  the  froward." — 1st  Peter  ii: 
11,  13,  15,  18.  What  an  important  document  is 
this!  enjoining  political  subjection  to  governments 
of  every  form,  and  Christian  subjection  on  the 
part  of  servants  to  their  masters,  whether  good 
or  bad;  for  the  purpose  of  showing  forth  to  ad- 
vantage, the  glory  of  the  gospel,  and  putting  to 
silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men,  who  might 
think  it  seditious. 

By  "every  ordinance  of  man,"  as  the  context 
will  show,  is  meant  governmental  regulations  or 


'I 


•4 

4 


42  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

v   flaws,  as  was  that  of  the  Eomans  for  enslaving 
,       their  prisoners  taken  in  war,  instead  of  destroying 
their  lives.) 

When  such  enslaved  persons  came  into  the 
church  of  Christ  let  them  (says  Peter)  "he  subject 
to  their  masters  with  all  fear/;  whether  such 
masters  he  good  or  had.  It  is  worthy  of  remark, 
that  he  says  much  to  secure  civil  subordination  to 
the  State,  and  hearty  and  cheerful  obedience  to 
the  masters,  on  the  part  of  servants;  yet  he  says 
nothing  to  masters  in  the  whole  letter.  It  would 
seem  from  this,  that  danger  to  the  cause  of  Christ 
was  on  the  side  of  insubordination  among  the 
servants,  and  a  want  of  humility  with  inferiors, 
rather  than  haughtiness  among  superiors  in  the 
church. 

Gibbon,  in  his  Borne,  vol.  1,  pages  25,  26,  27, 
shows,  from  standard  authorities,  that  Borne  at 
this  time  swayed  its  sceptre  over  one  hundred 
and  twenty  millions  of  souls;  that  in  every 
province,  and  in  every  family,  absolute  slavery 
existed;  that  it  was  at  least  fifty  years  later  than 
the  date  of  Peter's  letters,  before  the  absolute 
power  of  life  and  death  over  the  slave  was  tahen^ 
from  the  master,  and  committed  to  the  magistrate; 
N  that  about  sixty  millions  of  souls  were  held  as 
property  in  this  abject  condition;  that  the  price 
of  a  slave  was  four  times  that  of  an  ox;  that 
their  punishments  were  very  sanguinary;  that  in 
the  second  century,  when  their  condition  began 
to  improve  a  little,  emancipation  was  prohibited, 
except  for  great  personal  merit,  or  some  public 


OF    SLAVEEY.  43 

service  rendered  to  the  State;  and  that  it  was  not 
until  the  third  or  fourth  generation  after  freedom 
was  obtained,  that  the  descendants  of  a  slave 
could  share  in  the  honors  of  the  State.  This  is 
the  state,  condition,  or  relation  among  the  members 
of  the  apostolic  churches,  whether  among  Gentiles 
or  Jews;  which  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  Paul  for  the 
Gentiles,  and  Peter  for  the  Jews,  recognizes  as 
lawful ;  the  mutual  duties  of  which  he  prescribes 
in  the  language  above.  Now,  I. ask,  can  any 
man  in  his  proper  senses,  from  these  premises, 
bring  himself  to  conclude  that  slavery  is  abolished 
by  Jesus  Christ,  or  that  obligations  are  imposed 
by  him  upon  his  disciples  that  are  subversive  of 
the  institution?  Knowing  as  we  do  from  cotem- 
porary  historians,  that  the  institution  of  slavery 
existed  at  the  time  and  to  the  extent  stated  by 
Gibbon — what  sort  of  a  soul  a  man  must  have, 
who,  with  these  facts  before  him,  will  conceal  the 
truth  on  this  subject,  and  hold  Jesus  Christ  re- 
sj)onsible  for  a  scheme  of  treason  that  would,  if 
carried  out,  have  brought  the  life  of  every  human 
being  on  earth  at  the  time,  into  the  most  immi- 
nent peril,  and  that  must  have  worked  the  de- 
struction of  half  the  human  race? 

At  Kome,  the  authoritative  centre  of  that  vast 
theatre  upon  which  the  glories  of  the  cross  were 
to  be  won,  a  church  was  planted.  Paul  wrote  a 
long  letter  to  them.  On  this  subject  it  is  full  of 
instruction. 

Abolition  sentiments  had  not  dared  to  show 
themselves  so  near  the  imperial  sword.     To  warn 


V  > 


44  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

the  church  against  their  treasonable  tendency, 
was  therefore  unnecessary.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
special  precepts  upon  the  subject  of  relative  duties 
between  master  and  servant,  he  lays  down  a  system 
of  practical  morality,  in  the  12th  chapter  of  his 
letter,  which  must  commend  itself  equally  to  the 
king  on  his  throne,  and  the  slave  in  his  hovel; 
^  A  »     '     for  while  its  practical  operation  leaves  the  subject 

j    m  of  earthly  government  to  the  discretion  of  man, 

^£***      ,    it  secures  the  exercise  of  sentiments  and  feelings 

"VL,^r^      that   must   exterminate  'everything   inconsistent 
with  doing  to  others  as  we  would  they  should  do 
unto  us:   a  system   of  principles  that  will  give 
moral  strength  to   governments  ;  peace,  security, 
«  and  good  will  to  individuals ;  and  glory  to  God 

in  the  highest.  And  in  the  13th  chapter,  from 
the  1st  to  the  end  of  the  TOi  verse,  he  recognizes 
human  government  as  an  ordinance  of  God, 
which  the  followers  of  Christ  are  to  obey,  honor, 
and  support;  not  only  from  dread  of  punishment, 
t / 1  but/or  conscience  sake;  which  I  believe  abolition- 
ary ism  refuses  most  positively  to  do,  to  such  govern- 
ments as  from  the  force  of  circumstances  even 
permit  slavery. 

Again.  But  we  are  furnished  with  additional 
light,  and  if  we  are  not  greatly  mistaken,  with 
light  which  arose  out  of  circumstances  analogous 
to  those  which  are  threatening  at  the  present 
moment  to  overthrow  the  peace  of  society,  and 
deluge  this  nation  with  blood.  To  Titus  whom 
Paul  left  in  Crete,  to  set  in  order  the  things  that 
were  wanting,   he  writes  a  letter,  in  which  he 


OF   SLAVERY.  45 

warns  him  of  false  teachers,  that  were  to  be 
dreaded  on  account  of  their  doctrine.  "While 
they  professed  "to  know  God,"  that  is,  to  know 
his  will  under  the  gospel  dispensation,  "in  works 
they  denied  him;"  that  is,  they  did,  and  required 
others  to  do,  what  was  contrary  to  his  will  under 
the  gospel  dispensation.  "They  were  abomina- 
ble," that  is,  to  the  church  and  state,  "and  diso- 
bedient," that  is  to  the  authority  of  the  Apostles, 
and  the  civil  authority  of  the  land.  Titus,  he 
then  exhorts,  ".to  speak  the  things  that  become 
sound  doctrine;"  that  is,  that  the  members  of 
the  church  observe  the  law  of  the  land,  and  obey 
the  civil  magistrate;  that  "servants  be  obedient  * 
to  their  own  masters,  and  please  them  well  in  all  (Ler^ 
things,"  not  "answering  again,  not  purloining,  * 
but  showing  all  good  fidelity  that  they  may 
adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all 
things,"  in  that  which  subjects  the  ecclesiastical  to 
the  civil  authority  in  particular.  "These  things 
speak,  and  exhort  and  rebuke  with  all  authority ; 
let  no  man  despise  thee.  Put  them  in  mind  to  be 
subject  to  principalities  and  powers,  to  obey  mag- 
istrates."— Titus  i:  16,  and  ii:  from  1  to  10,  and 
iii:  1.  The  context  shows  that  a  doctrine  was 
taught  by  these  wicked  men,  which  tended  in  its 
influence  on  servants,  to  bring  the  gospel  of 
Christ  into  comtempt,  in  church  and  state, 
because  of  its  seditions  and  insubordinate  char- 
acter. 

But  at  EphesusT  the  capital  of  the  lesser  Asia, 
where  Paul  had  labored  with  great  success  for 


46  SCRIPTURAL   VIEW 

three  years — -a  point  of  great  importance  to  the 
gospel  cause — the  Apostle  left  Timothy  for  the 
purpose  of  watching  against  the  false  teachers, 
and  particularly  against  the  abolitionists.  In 
addition  to  a  letter  which  he  had  addressed  to 
this  church  previously,  in  which  the  mutual  duty 
of  master  and  servant  is  taught,  and  which  has 
already  been  referred  to,  he  further  instructs 
Timothy  by  letter  on  the  same  subject:  "Let  as 
many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count  their 
masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of 
God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed." — 1 
Tim.  vi:  1.  These  were  unbelieving  masters,  as 
the  next  verse  will  show.  In  this  church  at 
Ephesus,  the  circumstances  existed,  which  are 
brought  to  light  by  Paul's  letter  to  Timothy,  that 
must  silence  every  cavil,  which  men,  who  do  not 
know  God's  will  on  this  subject,  may  start  until 
time  ends.  In  an  age  filled  with  literary  men, 
who  are  employed  in  transmitting  historically,  to 
future  generations,  the  structure  of  society  in  the 
Roman  Empire;  that  would  put  it  in  our  power 
at  this  distant  day,  to  know  the  state  or  condition 
of  a  slave  in  the  Roman  Empire,  as  well  as  if  we 
had  lived  at  the  time,  and  to  know  beyond  ques- 
/ 1  i  tion,  that  his  condition  was  precisely  that  one,  ) 
y  /  /  which  is  now  denounced  as  sinful :  in  such  an  / 
age,  and  in  such  circumstances,  Jesus  Christ 
causes  his  will  to  be  published  to  the  world  ;  and 
it  is  this,  that  if  a  Christian  slave  have  an  unbe- 
lieving master,  who  acknowledges  no  allegiance 
to   Christ,   thiso  Miev.ing^uive   must  count   his 


OF  SLAVERY.  47 

master  worthy  of  all  honor,  according  to  what 
the  Apostle  teaches  the  Romans,  "Render,  there- 
fore, to  all  their  dues,  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is 
due,  custom  to  whom  cnstom  is  due,  fear  to  whom 
fear,  honor  to  whom  honor." — Rom.  xiii:  7. 
Now,  honor  is  enjoined  of  God  in  the  Scriptures, 
from  children  to  parents-1— from  husbands  to 
wives — from  subjects  to  magistrates  and  rulers, 
and  here  by  Jesus  Christ,  from  Christian  slaves 
to  unbelieving  masters,  who  held  them  as  prop- 
erty by  law,  with  power  over  their  very  lives. 
And  the  command  is  remarkable.  While  we  are 
commanded  to  honor  father  and  mother,  without 
adding  to  the  precept  "all  honor,"  here  a  Chris- 
tian servant  is  bound  to  render  to  his  unbelieving 
master  "all  honor."  Why  is  this?  Because  in 
the  one  case  nature  moves  in  the  direction  of  the 
command ;  but  in  the  other,  against  it.  Nature 
being  subjected  to  the  law  of  grace,  might  be  dis- 
posed to  obey  reluctantly;  hence  the  amplitude  of 
the  command.  But  what  purpose  was  to  be 
answered  by  this  devotion  of  the  slave?  The 
Apostle  answers,  "that  the  name  of  God  and 
his  doctrine  (of  subordination  to  the  law-making 
power)  be  not  blasphemed,"  as  they  certainly 
would  by  a  'contrary  course  on  the  part  of  the 
servant,  for  the  most  obvious  reason  in  the  world; 
while  the  sword  would  have  been  drawn  against 
the  gospel,  and  a  war  of  extermination  waged 
against  its  propagators,  in  every  province  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  for  there  was  slavery  in  all;  and 
so  it  would  be  now.    ^v%^d 


48  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

But,  says  the  caviler,  these  directions  are  given 
to  Christian  slaves  whose  masters  did  not  ac- 
knowledge the  authority  of  Christ  to  govern 
them ;  and  are  therefore  defective  as  proof,  that 
he  approves  of  one  Christian  man  holding  another 
in  bondage.  Very  well,  we  will  see.  In  the  next 
verse,  (1  Timothy  vi:  2,)  he  says,  "and  they  that 
have  believing  masters,  let  them  not  despise 
them,  because  they  are  brethren,  but  rather  do 
them  service,  because  they  are  faithful  and  be- 
loved, partakers  of  the  benefit."  Here  is  a  great 
change;  instead  of  a  command  to  a  believing 
slave  to  render  to  a  believing  master  all  honor, 
and  thereby  making  that  believing  master  in  honor 
equal  to  an  unbelieving  master,  here  is  rather  an 
exhortation  to  the  slave  not  to  despise  Kim,  because 
he  is  a  believer.  Now,  I  ask,  why  the  circum- 
stance of  a  master  becoming  a  believer  in  Christ, 
should  become  the  cause  of  his  believing  slave 
despising  him  while  that  slave  was  supposed  to 
acquiesce  in  the  duty  of  rendering  all  honor  to 
that  master  before  he  became  a  believer  ?•  I 
answer,  precisely,  and  only,  because  there  were 
abolition  teachers  among  them,  who  taught  other- 
wise, and  consented  not  to  wholesome  words,  even 

.  \  the  ivords  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. — 1  Timothy 
vii:  3;  and  ato  the  doctrine  which  is  according 

/  '  to  godliness,"  taught  in  the  8th  verse,  viz:  having 
food  and  raiment,  servants  should  therewith  be 
content;  for  the  pronoun  us,  in  the  8th  verse  of 
this  connection,  means  especially  the  servants  he 
was  instructing,  as  well  as' Christians  in  general. 


OF  SLAVERY.  49 

These  men  taught,  that  godliness  abolished  sla- 
very, that  it  gave  the  title  of  freedom  to  the 
slave,  and  that  so  soon  as  a  man  professed  to  he 
subject  to  Christ,  and  refused  to  liberate  his 
slaves,  he  was  a  hypocrite,  and  deserved  not  the 
countenance  of  any  who  bore  the  Christian  name. 
Such  men,  the  Apostle  says,  are  " proud,  (just  as 
they  are  now,)  knowing  nothing,"  (that  is,  on 
this  subject,)  but  "doating  about  questions,  and 
strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife, 
railings,  evil  surmisings,  perverse  disputings  of 
men  of  corrupt  minds,  and  destitute  of  the  truth, 
supposing  that  gain  is  godliness:  from  such  with- 
draw thyself."— 1  Tim.  vi:  4,  5. 

Such  were  the  bitter  fruits  which  abolition 
sentiments  produced  in  the  Apostolic  day,  and 
such  precisely  are  the  fruits  they  produce  now. 

Now,  I  say,  here  is  the  case  made  out,  which,  ff 
certainly  would   call   forth   the   command'  from  ®  * 
Christ,  to  abolish  slavery,  if  he  ever  intended  to  fas~A>^ 
abolish  it.     Both  the  servant  and  the  master  were  ^/    ih 
one  in  Christ  Jesus.     Both  were  members  of  the 
same   church,    both   were   under   unlimited  and   s    (ip* 
voluntary    obedience   to   the    same   divine   law-   '     * 
giver. 

No  political  objection  existed  at  the  time  against 
their  obedience  to  him  on  the  subject  of  slavery ; 
and  what  is  the  will,  not  of  Paul,  but  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  immediately  in  persom,  upon 
the  case  thus  made  out?  Does  he  say  to  the  mas- 
ter, having  put  yourself  under  my  government, 
you  must  no  longer  hold  your  brother  in  bon- 


iv+t Hr 


50  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

dage  ?  Does  lie  say  to  the  slave,  if  your  master 
does  not  release  you,  you  must  go  and  talk  to 
him  privately,  about  this  trespass  upon  your 
rights  under  the  law  of  my  kingdom ;  and  if  he 
does  not  hear  you,  you  must  take  two  or  three 
with  you;  and  if  he  does  not  hear  them  then  you 
must  tell  it  to  the  church,  and  have  hin^expelled 
from  my  flock,  as  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothmg?  I 
say,  what  does  the  Lord  Jesus  say  to  thisVoor 
believing  slave,  concerning  a  master  who  nteld 
unlimited  power  over  his  person  and  life,  undpr 
the  Roman  law?  He  tells  him  that  the  very 
circumstance  of  his  master's  being  a  brother,;  $| 
constitutes  the  reason  why  he  should  be  mor||| 
ready  to  do  him  service ;  for  in  addition  to  thj 
circumstance  of  his  being  a  brother  who  wouhp 
be  benefited  by  his  service,  he  would  as  a  brothel 
give  him  what  was  just  and  equal  in  return,^ind 
i/^X ' •  forbear  threatening,"  much  less  abusing  his 
authority  over  him,  for  that  he  (the  masjpr)  also 
had  a  master  in  heaven,  who  was  no  respecter  of 
persons.  It  is  taken  for  granted,  on  all  hands 
pretty  generally,  that  Jesus  Christ  has  at  least 
been  silent,  or  that  he  has  not  personally  spoken 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  Once  for  all,  I  deny  it. 
Paul,  after  stating  that  a  slave  was  to  honor  an 
unbelieving  master,  in  the  1st  ^erse  of  the  6th 
chapter,  says,  in  the  2d  verse, 'that  to  a  believing 
master,  he  is  the  rather  to  do  service,  because  he 
who  partakes  of  the  benefit? 'is  his  brother.  He 
then  says,  if  any  man  teach  otherwise,  (as  all 
abolitionists  then  did,  and  now  do;)  and  consent 


OF  SLAVERY.  51 

not  to  wholesome  words,  "even  the  words  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ/ '  Now,  if  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  uttered  such  words,  how  dare  we  say  he 
has  been  silent?  If  he  has  been  silent,  how  dare 
the  Apostle  say  these  are  the  words  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  if  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  never 
spoke  them?  Where,  or  when,  or  on  what  occa- 
sion he  spoke  them,  we  are  not  informed  ;  but 
certain  it  is3  that  Paul  has  borne  false  witness,  or 
that  Jesus  Christ  has  uttered  the  words  that  im- 
pose an  obligation  on  servants,  who  are  abject 
slaves,  to  render  service  with  good  will  from  the 
heart,  to  believing  masters,  and  to  account  their 
unbelieving  masters  as  worthy  of  all  honor,  that 
the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blas- 
phemed. Jesus  Christ  revealed  to  Paul  the 
doctrine  which  Paul  has  settled  throughout  the 
Gentile  world,  (and  by  consequence,  the  Jewish 
world  also,)  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  so  far  as  it 
affects  his  kingdom.  As  we  have  seen^  it  is  clear 
and  full. 

From  the  great  importance  of  the  subject, 
involving  the  personal  liberty  of  half  the  human 
race  at  that  time,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  at 
all  times  since,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that 
Paul  would  carry  the  question  to  the  Saviour,  and 
plead  for  a  decisive  expression  of  his  will,  that 
would  forever  do  away  the  necessity  of  inferring 
anything  by  reasoning  from  tbe  premises  laid 
down  in  the  former  dispensation ;  or  in  the  patri- 
archal age;  and  at  Ephesus,  if  not  at  Crete,  the 

issue  is  fairly  made,  between  Paul  .on  the  one 
c2 


52 


SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 


ff^*r— 


Bide,  and  certain  abolition  teachers  on  the  other, 
when,  in  addition  to  the  official  intelligence 
ordinarily  given  to  the  Apostles  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  to  guide  them  into  all  truth,  he  affirms, 
that  the  doctrine  of  perfect  civil  subordination,  on 
the  part  of  hereditary  slaves  to  their  masters, 
whether  believers  or  unbelievers,  was  one  which 
he,  Paul,  taught  in  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  himself. 

The  Scriptures  we  have  adduced  from  the  New 
Testament,  to  prove  the  recognition  of  hereditary 
slavery  by  the  Saviour,  as  a  lawful  relation  in  the 
sight  of  God,  lose  much  of  their  force  from  the 
use  of  a  word  by  the  translators,  which  by  time, 
has  lost  much  of  its  original  meaning;  that  is, 
the  word/servant.  Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  Diction- 
ary, say|:  "Servant  is  one  of  the  few  words, 
which  by  time  has  acquired  a  softer  signification 
than  its  (original,  knave,  degenerated  into  cheat. 
Whilelservant,  which  signified  originally,  a  per- 
son preserved  from  death  by  the  conqueror,  and 
reserved  for  slavery,  signifies)  only  an  obedient 
attendant."  Now,  all  history  will  prove  that  the 
servants  of  the  New  Testament  addressed  by  the 
Apostles,  in  their  letters  to  the  several  churches 
throughout  the  Eoman  Empire,  were  such  as  were 
preserved  from  death  by  the  conqueror,  and  taken 
into  slavery.  This  was  their  condition,  and  it  is  a 
fact  well  known  to  all  men  acquainted  with  his- 
tory. Had  the  word  which  designates  their  con- 
dition, in  our  translation,  lost  none  of  its  original 
meaning,  a  common  man  could  not  have  fallen 


0£    SLAVEllt*  53 

into  a  mistake  as  to  the  condition  indicated. 
But  to  waive  this  fact  we  are  furnished  with  all  the 
evidence  that  can  be  desired.  The  Saviour  ap- 
peared in  an  age  of  learning — the  enslaved  con- 
dition of  half  the  Eoman  Empire,  at  the  time,  is 
a  fact  embodied  with  all  the  historical  records — 
the  constitution  God  gave  the  Jews,  was  in 
harmony  with  the  Eoman  regulations  on  the 
subject  of  slavery.  In  this  state  of  things,  Jesus 
ordered  his  gospel  to  be  preached  in  all  the 
world,  and  to  every  creature.  It  was  done  as  he 
directed ;  and  masters  and  servants,  and  persons 
iii  all  conditions,  were  brought  by  the  gospel  to 
obey  the  Saviour.  Churches  were  constituted. 
"VVe  have  examined  the  letters  written  to  the 
churches,  composed  of  these  materials.  The  re- 
sult is,  that  each  member  is  furnished  with  a  law 
to  regulate  the  duties  of  his  civil  station — from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest. 

We  will  remark,  in  closing  under  this  head, 
that  we  have  shown  from  the  text  of  the  sacred 
volume,  that  when  God  entered  into  covenant 
with  Abra\am,  it  was  with  him  as  a  slaveholder; 
that  when  he  took  his  posterity  by  the  hand  in 
Egypt,  five  hundred  years  afterwards  to  confirm 
the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  it  was  done  with 
them  as  slaveholders;  that  when  he  gave  them  a 
constitution  of  government,  he  gave  them  the 
right  to  perpetuate  hereditary  slavery  ;  and  that 
he  did  not  for  the  fifteen  hundred  years  of  their 
national  existence,  express  disapprobation  towards 

the  institution. 
g3 


r     f 


54  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

We  have  also  shown  from  authentic  history 
that  the  institution  of  slavery  existed  in  every 
family,  and  in  every  province  of  the  Koman 
Empire,  at  the  time  the  gospel  was  published  to 
them. 

We  have  also  shown  from  the  New  Testament, 
that  all  the  churches  are  recognized  as  composed 
of  masters  and  servants ;  and  that  they  are  in- 
structed by  Christ  how  to  discharge  their  relative 
duties;  and  finally  that  in  reference  to  the  ques- 
tion which  was  then  started,  whether  Christianity 
did  not  abolish  the  institution,  or  the  right  of  one 
Christian  to  hold  another  Christian  in  bondage, 
we  have  shown,  that  'fthe  words  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ"  are,  that  so  far  from  this  being 
the  case,  it  adds  to  the  obligation  of  the  servant 
to  render  service  with  good  will  to  his  master,  and 
that  gospel  fellowship  is  not  to  be  entertained 
with  persons  who  will  not  consent  to  it ! 

I  propose,  in  the  fourth  place,  to  show  that  the 
institution  of  slavery  is  full  of  mercy.  I  shall 
say  but  a  few  words  on  this  subject.  Authentic 
history  warrants  this  conclusion,  that^rfor  a  long 
period  of  time,  it  was  this  institution  alone  which 
furnished  a  motive  for  sparing  the  prisoner's 
life.\  The  chances  of  war,  when  the  earth  was 
filled  with  small  tribes  of  men,  who  had  a  pas- 
sion for  it,  brought  to  decision,  almost  daily, 
conflicts,  where  nothing  but  this  institution  in- 
terposed an  inducement  to  save  the  vanquished  * 
The  same  was  true  in  the  enlarged  schemes  of 
conquest,  which  brought  the  four  great  universal 


Otf  SLAVERY.  55 

empires  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  zenith  of  their 
power. 

The  same  is  true  in  the  history  of  Africa,  as  far 
back  as  we  can  trace  it.  It  is  only  sober  truth  to 
say,  that  the  institution  of  slavery  has  saved  from 
the  sword  more  lives,  including  their  increase, 
than  all  the  souls  who  now  inhabit  this  globe. 

The  souls  thus  conquered  and  subjected  to  mas-*   ^ 
ters,  who  feared  not  God  nor  regarded  men,  in 
the  days  of  Abraham,  Job,  and  the  Patriarchs, 
were  surely  brought  under  great  obligations  to    j 
the   mercy   of   God,    in   allowing   such   men   as 
these  to  purchase  them,  and  keep  them  in  their    > 
families.  | 

I  The  institution  when  ingrafted  on  the  Jewish  , 
constitution,  was  designed  principally,  not  to  » 
enlarge  the  number,  but  to  ameliorate  the  condi-  , 
tion  of  the  slaves  in  the  neighboring  nations.^ 

Under  the  gospel,  it  has  brought  within  the 

range   of   gospel    influence,   millions   of  Ham's 

descendants  among  ourselves,  who  but  for  this   ~_/ 

institution,   would   have   sunk   down  to  eternal    s*«J<m 

ruin;    knowing  not  God,  and   strangers  to  the 2"™*-   *-~*° 

gospel.     In  their  bondage  here  on  earth,   they     #C+*    . 

have  been  much  better  provided  for,  and  great 

multitudes  of  them  have  been  made  the  freemen 

of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,   and  left  this  world 

rejoicing   in    hope   of  the   glory   of   God.     The 

elements  of  an  empire,  which  I  hope  will  lead 

Ethiopia  very  soon  to  stretch  out  her  hands  to 

God,  is  the  fruit  of   the  institution  here.     An 

officious    meddling    with    the   institution,   from 
c4 


<^> 


56  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

feeling  and  sentiments  unknown   to  the  Bible, 
may  lead  to  the  extermination  of  the  slave  race 
among  us,   who,  taken  as  a  whole,   are  utterly 
ty^fatl unprepared  for  a  higher  civil  state;  but  benefit 
them,  it  cannot.     Their  condition,  as  a  class,  is 
now  bettter  than  that  of  any  other   equal  num- 
ber of  laborers  on  earth,  and  is  daily  improving. 
f  If  the  Bible  is  allowed  to  awaken  the  spirit, 
I  and  control  the  philanthropy  which  works  their 
I   good,  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  highest 
/   wishes  of  saints  will  be  gratified,  in  having  con-  I 
ferred  on  them  all  that  the  spirit  of  good-will  can 
bestow,  y  This  spirit  which  was  kindling  into  life, 
has  received  a  great  check  among  us  o£  late,  by 
that  trait  which  the  Apostle  Peter  reproves  and 
shames  in  his  officious  countrymen,  when  he  says: 
"But  let  none  of  you  suffer  as  a  murderer,  or  as 

f  a  thief,  or  as  an  evil  doer,  or  as  a  busy-body  in 
other  men's  matters."  Our  citizens  have  been 
murdered — our  property  has  been  stolen,  (if  the 

!  receiver  is  as  bad  as  the  thief,) — our  lives  have 
been  put  in  jeopardy — our  characters  traduced — 
and  attempts  made  to  force  political  slavery  upon 
(  us  in  the  place  of  domestic,  by  strangers  who 
have  no  right  to  meddle  with  our  matters.  In- 
stead of  meditating  generous  things  to  our  slaves, 

(  as  a  return  for  gospel  subordination,  we  have  to 
put  on  our  armor  to  suppress  a  rebellious  spirit, 
engendered  by  "  false  doctrine,"  propagated  by 
men    "of   corrupt  minds,   and  destitute   of  the 

I      truth,"  who  teach  them  that  the  gain  of  freedom 

I     to  the  slave,  is  the  only  proof  of  godliness  in  the 


OP  SLAVERY.  57 

master.  From  such,  Paul  says  we  must  withdraw 
ourselves;  and  if  we  fail  to  do  it,  and  to  rebuke 
them  with  all  the  authority  which  "the  words  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  confer,  we  shall  be  want- 
ing in  duty  to  them,  to  ourselves,  and  to  the 
world. 

THORNTON  STRINGFELLOW. 


c5 


58  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 


AN  EXAMINATION 

OP  ELDER  GALUSHA'S  REPLY  TO  DR.  RICHARD  FULLER, 
OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


After  my  essay  on  slavery  was  published  in 
the  Herald,*  I  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  a  prominent 
Abolition  gentleman  in  New  York,  accompanied 
by  a  friendly  letter. 

This  gentleman  I  selected  as  a  correspondent, 
because  of  his  high  standing,  intellectual  attain- 
ments, and  unquestioned  piety.  I  frankly  avowed 
to  him  my  readiness  to  abandon  slavery,  so  soon 
as  I  was  convinced  by  the  Bible  that  it  was  sin- 
ful, and  requested  him,  a  if  the  Bible  contained 
precepts,  and  settled  principles  of  conduct,  in 
direct  opposition  to  those  portions  of  it  upon 
which  I  relied,  as  furnishing  the  mind  of  the 
Almighty  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  that  he 
would  furnish  me  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
fact."  To  this  letter  I  received  a  friendly  reply, 
accompanied  by  a  printed  communication  con- 
taining the  result  of  a  prayerful  effort  which  he 
had  previously  made,  for  the  purpose  of  furnish- 

*  These  letters  were  first  published  in  the  Religious  Herald,  Eichmond. 


OP  SLAVERY.  59 

ing  the  very  information  to  a  friend  at  the  South, 
which  I  sought  to  obtain  at  his  hands. 

It  may  be  owing  to  my  prejudices,  or  a  want 
of  intellect,  that  I  fail  to  be  convinced,  by  those 
portions  of  the  Bible  to  which  he  refers,  to  prove 
that  slavery  is  sinful.  But  as  the  support  of  * 
truth  is  my  object,  and  as  I  wish  to  have'  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God  in  this 
matter,  I  herewith  publish,  for  the  information  of  1 
all  into  whose  hands  my  first  essay  may  have 
fallen,  every  passage  in  the  Bible  to  which  this 
distinguished  brother  refers  me  for  "precepts  and 
settled  principles  of  conduct,  in  direct  opposition 
to  those  portions  of  it  upon  which  I  relied,  as 
(furnishing  the  mind  of  the  Almighty  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery.'' 

1st.  His  reference  to  the  sacred  volume  is  this :     * 
"God  hath   made   of  one  blood   all  nations   of 
men.''     This  is  a  Scripture  truth  which  I  believe; 
yet  God  decreed  that  Canaan  should  be  a  servant     v 
of  servants   to   his   brother — that   is,   an  abject 
slave  in  his  posterity.     This  God  effected  eight-     * 
hundred  years  afterwards,  in  the  days  of  Joshua,     x 
when  the  Gibeonites  were  subjected  to  perpetual 
bondage,  and  made  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers 
of  water. — Joshua  ix:  23. 

(Again, /God  ordained,  as  law-giver  to  Israel,      v 
that  their  captives  taken  in  war]  should  be  en- 
slaved. — Deut.  xx:  10  to  15. 

/Again,  God  enacted  that  the  Israelites  should       Y<|| 

buy  slaves  of  the  heathen  nations  around  them^  \ 

and  will  them  and  their  increase  as  property  to 
c6 


4" 
1 


60  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

their  children  forever. — Lev.  xxv:  44,  45,  46. 
All  these  nations  were  made  of  one  blood.  Yet 
God  ordained  that  some  should  he  "chattel" 
slaves  to  others,  and  gave  his  special  aid  to  effect 
it.  In  view  of  this  incontrovertible  fact,  how  can 
I  believe  this  passage  disproves  the  lawfulness  of 
slavery  in  the  sight  of  God?  How  can  any  sane 
man  believe  it,  who  believes  the  Bible? 

2d.  His  second  Scripture  reference  to  disprove 
(    the  lawfulness  of  slavery  in  the  sight  of  God,  is 

{  this :  "  God  has  said  a  man  is  better  than  a  sheep." 
This  is  a  Scripture  truth  which  I  fully  believe — 
and  I  have  no  doubt,  if  we  could  ascertain  what 
the  Israelites  had  to  pay  for  those  slaves  they 
/  bought  with  their  money  according  to  God's  law,| 
in  Levit.  xxv :  44,  that  we  should  find  they  had 
to  pay  more  for  them  than  they  paid  for  sheep, 
for  the  reason  assigned  by  the  Saviour;  that  is, 
that  a  servant  man  is  better  than  a  sheep ;  for 

„ when  he  is  done  ploughing,  or  feeding  cattle,  and 

comes  in  from  the  field,  he  will,  at  his  master's 
bidding,  prepare  him  his  meal,  and  wait  upon 
him  till  he  eats  it,  while  the  master  feels  under 
no  obligation  even  to  thank  him  for  it  because  he 
has  done  no  more  than  his  duty. — Luke  xvii:  7, 
8,  9.  This,  and  other  important  duties,  which 
the  people  of  God  bought  their  slaves  to  perform 
for  them,  by  the  permission  of  their  Maker,  were 
duties  which  sheep  could  not  perform.  But  I 
cannot  see  what  there  is  in  it  to  blot  out  from  the 
*Bible/a  relation  which  God  created,  in  which  he 
made  one  man  to  be  a  slave  to  another.) 


OF    SLAVERY.  61 

3d.  His  third  Scripture  reference  to  prove  the 
unlawfulness  of  slavery  in  the  sight  of  God,  is 
this:  "God  commands  children  to  obey  their 
parents,  and  wives  to  obey  their  husbands." 
This,  I  believe  to  be  the  will  of  Christ  to  Chris- 
tian children  and  Christian  wives — whether  they 
are  bond  or  free.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  tj 
Christ  ordains  that  Christianity  shall  not  abolish 
slavery. — 1  Cor.  vii:  17,  21,  and  that  he  com-  *  i 
mands  servants  to  obey  their  masters  and'  to  ' 
count  them  worthy  of  all  honor. — 1  Tim.  vi:  1,2. 
It  is  also  true,  that  God  allowed  Jewish  masters 
to  use  the  rod  to  make  them  do  it — and  to  use  it 
with  the  severity  requisite  to  accomplish  the 
object. — Ex.  xxi:  20,  21.  It  is  equally  true,  that 
Jesus  Christ  ordains  that  a  Christian  servant 
shall  receive  for  the  wrong  he  hath  done. — Col. 
iii:  25.  My  correspondent  admits,  without  quali- 
fication, that  if  they  are  property,  it  is  right.  ^_ 
But  the  Bible  says,  they  were  property. — Levit. 
xxv :  44,  45,46. 

The  above  reference,  reader  enjoins  the  duty  of 
two  relations,  which  God  ordained,  but  does  not 
abolish  a  third  relation  which  God  has  ordained; 
as  the  Scripture  will  prove,  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred you,  under  the  first  reference  made  by  my 
correspondent. 

4th.  His  fourth  Scripture  reference  is,  to  the   - 
intention   of  Abraham   to   give   his   estate   to   a 
servant,  in  order  to  prove  that  servant  was  not  a 
slave.     "What"'    he    says,     " property   inherits 
property?^     I  answer,  yes.     Two  years  ago,   in 


V 


62  SCRIPTURAL  VIEW 

my  county,  Willian  Hansbrough  gave  to  his 
slaves  his  estate,  worth  forty  or  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  In  the  last  five  or  six  years,  over  two 
hundred  slaves,  within  a  few  miles  of  me, 
belonging  to  various  masters,  have  inherited 
portions  of  their  masters'  estates. 

To  render  slaves  valuable,  theKomans  qualified 
them  for  the  learned  professions,  and  all  the  va- 
rious arts.  They  were  teachers,  doctors,  authors, 
mechanics,  &c.  So  with  us,  tradesmen  of  every 
kind  are  to  be  found  among  our  slaves.  Some  of 
them  are  undertakers — some  farmers — some  over- 
seers, or  stewards — some  housekeepers — some  mer- 
chants— some  teamsters,  and  some  money-lenders, 
who  give  their  masters  a  portion  of  their  income, 
and  keep  the  balance.  Nearly  all  of  them  have 
an  income  of  their  own — and  was  it  not  for  the 
seditious  spirit  of  the  North,  we  would  educate 
our  slaves  generally,  and  so  fit  them  earlier  for  a 
more  improved  condition,  and  higher  moral  eleva- 
tion. 

But  will  all  this,  when  duly  certified,  prove 
they  are  not  slaves?  No.  Neither  will  Abraham's 
intention  to  give  one  of  his  servants  his  estate, 
prove  that  he  was  not  a  slave.  Who  had  higher 
claims  upon  Abraham,  before  he  had  a  child, 
than  this  faithful  slave,  born  in  his  house,  reared 
by  his  hand,  devoted  to  his  interest,  and  faithful 
in  every  trust  ? 

5th.  His  fifth  reference,  my  correspondent  says, 
"forever  sets  the  question  at  rest."  It  is  this: 
"Thou  shalt  not  deliver   unto  his   master,  the 


OF  SLAVERY.  63 

servant  which  is  escaped  from  his  master  unto 
thee — he  shall  dwell  with  thee,  even  in  that 
place  which  he  shall  choose,  in  one  of  thy  gates, 
where  it  liketh  him  best;  thou  shalt  not  oppress 
him." 

This  my  distinguished  correspondent  says, 
"  forever  puts  the  question  at  rest."  My  reader,  I 
hope,  will  ask  himself  what  question  it  puts  to 
rest.  He  will  please  to  rememher,  that  it  is 
brought  to  put  this  question  to  rest,  "Is  slavery 
sinful  in  the  sight  of  God?"  the  Bible  being 
judge — or  "did  God  ever  allow  one  man  to  hold 
property  in  another?" 

My  correspondent  admits  this  to  be  the  ques- 
tion at  issue.  He  asks,  "What  is  slavery?" 
And  thus  answers  :  "It  is  the  principle  involved 
in  holding  man  as  property."  "  This,"  he  says  : 
"is  the  point  at  issue."  He  says,  "if  it  be  right 
to  hold  man  as  property,  it  is  right  to  treat  him 
as  property,"  &c.  Now,  conceding  all  in  the 
argument,  that  can  be  demanded  for  this  law 
about  runaway  slaves,  yet  it  does  not  prove  that 
slavery  or  holding  property  in  man  is  sinful — 
because  it  is  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  Mosaic  law, 
given  to  Israel  in  the  wilderness  by  the  same 
God,  who  in  the  same  wilderness  enacted  "  that 
of  the  heathen  that  were  round  about  them,  they 
should  buy  bond-men  and  bond-women — also  of 
the  strangers  that  dwelt  among  them  should  they 
buy,  and  they  should  pass  as  an  inheritance  to 
their  children  after  them,  to  possess  them  as 
bond-men  forever."— Levit.  xxv  :  44. 


64  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

How  can  I  admit  that  a  prohibition  to  deliver 
up  a  runaway  slave,  under  the  law  of  Moses,  is 
proof  that  there  was  no  slavery  allowed  under 
that  law  ?  Here  is  the  law  from  God  himself, — 
Levit.  xxv  :  44,  authorizing  the  Israelites  to  buy 
slaves  and  transmit  them  and  their  increase  as  a 
possession  to  their  posterity  forever — and  to  make 
slaves  of  their  captives  taken  in  war. — Deut.  xx : 
10 — 15.  Suppose,  for  argument's  sake,  I  admit 
that  God  prohibited  the  delivery  back  of  one  of 
these  slaves,  when  he  fled  from  his  master — would 
that  prove  that  he  was  not  a  slave  before'he  fled? 
Would  that  prove  that  he  did  not  remain  legally 
a  slave  in  the  sight  of  God,  according  to  his  own 
law,  until  he  fled?  The  passage  proves  the  very 
reverse  of  that  which  it  is  brought  to  prove.*  It 
proves  that  the  slave  is  recognized  by  God  him- 
self as  a  slave,  until  he  fled  to  the  Israelites.  My 
correspondent's  exposition  of  this  law  seems  based 
upon  the  idea  that  God,  who  had  held  fellowship 
with  slavery  among  his  people  for  five  hundred 
years,  and  who  had  just  given  them  a  form#l 
statute  to  legalize  the  purchase  of  slaves  from  the 
heathen,  and  to  enslave  their  captives  taken  in 
-  *     war,   was,  nevertheless7"*tlesirous  to  abolish  the 

U^~*^  institution.  But,  as  if  afraid  to  march  directly 
up  to  his  object,  he  was  disposed  to  undermine 
what  he  was  unwilling  to  attempt  to  overthrow. 
Upon  the  principle  that  man  is  prone  to  think 
God  is  altogether  such  an  one  as  himself,  we  may 
account  for  such  an  interpretation  at  the  present 
time,  by  men  north  of  Mason  &  Dixon's  line. 


OF   SLAVERY.  65 

Oar  brethren  there  have  held  fellowship  with  this 
institution,  by  the  constitutional  oath  they  have 
taken  to  protect  us  in  this  property.  Unable, 
constitutionally,  to  overthrow  the  institution,  they 
see,  or  think  they  see,  a  sanction  in  the  law  of 
God  to  undermine  it,  by  opening  their  gates  and 
letting  our  runaway  slaves  "  dwell  among  them 
where  it  liketh  them  best."  If  I  could  be  aston- 
ished at  anything  in  this  controversy,  it  would  be 
to  see  sensible  men  engaged  in  the  study  of  that 
part  of  the  Bible  which  relates  to  the  rights  of 
property,  as  established  by  the  Almighty  himself, 
giving  in  to  the  idea  that  the  Judge  of  the  world, 
acting  in  the  character  of  a  national  law-giver, 
would  legalize  a  property  right  in  slaves,  as  he 
did — give  full  power  to  the  master  to  govern — 
secure  the  increase  as  an  inheritance  to  posterity 
for  all  time  to  come — and  then  add  a  clause  to 
legalize  a  fraud  upon  the  unsuspecting  purchaser. 
For  what  better  is  it,  under  this  interpretation  ? 
With  respect  to  slaves  purchased  of  the  hea- 
then, or  enslaved  by  war,  the  law  passed  a  clear 
title  to  them  and  their  increase  forever.  With  re- 
spect to  the  hired  servants  of  the  Hebrews,  the  law 
secured  to  the  master  a  right  to  their  service  until 
the  Sabbatic  year  or  Jubilee — unless  they  were 
bought  back  by  a  near  kinsman  at  a  stated  price 
in  money  when  owned  by  a  heathen  master.  But 
these  legal  rights,  under  these  laws  of  heaven's 
King,  by  this  interpretation,  are  all  canceled — 
for  the  pecuniary  loss,  there  is  no  redress — and 
for  the  insult  no  remedy,  whenever  a  "liketh  him 


H 


ylJL- 


66  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

best"  man  can  induce  the  slave  to  runaway.  And 
worse  still,  the  community  of  masters  thus  insult- 
ed and  swindled,  according  to  this  interpretation, 
are  bound  to  show  respect  and  afford  protection 
to  the  villians  who  practise  it.  Who  can  believe 
all  this?  I  judge  our  northern  brethren  will  say, 
the  Lord  deliver  us  from  such  legislation  as  this. 
(J  So  say  we.  What,  then,  does  this  runaway  law 
mean  ?  It  means  that  the  God  of  Israel  ordained 
his  people  to  be  an  asylum  for  the  slave  who  fled 
from  heathen  cruelty  to  them  for  protection  ;  it 
is  the  law  of  nations — but  surrendered  under  the 
Constitution  by  these  States,  who  agreed  to 
deliver  them  up.  See,  says  God,  ye  oppress  not 
the  stranger.  Thou  shalt  neither  vex  a  stranger, 
nor  oppress  him. — Ex.  xxii :  21. 

His  6th  reference  to  the  Bible  is  this:  "Do 
to  others  as  ye  would  they  should  do  to  you."  I 
have  shown  in  the  essay,  that  these  words  of  our 
Saviour,  embody  the  same  moral  principle,  which 
is  embodied  by  Moses  in  Levit.  xix  :  18,  in  these 
words,  "  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  In  this 
we  cannot  be  mistaken,  because  Jesus  says  there 
are  but  two  such  principles  in  God's  moral  gov- 
ernment— one  of  supreme  love  to  God — another  of 
love  to  our  neighbor  as  ourself.  To  the  everlast- 
ing confusion  of  the  argument  from  moral  pre- 
cepts, to  overthrow  the  positive  institution  of 
slavery,  this  moral  precept  was  given  to  regulate 
the  mutual  duties  of  this  very  relation,  which 
God  by  law  ordained  for  the  Jewish  common- 
wealth. 


OF  SLAVERY.  67 

•How  can  that  which  regulates  the  duty,  over- 
throw the  relation  itself? 

His  7th  reference  is,  "They  which  are  account- 
ed to  rule  over  the  Gentiles,  exercise  lordship 
over  them,  but  so  it  shall  not  be  among  you." 

Turn  to  the  passage,  reader,  in  Mark  x :  42 ; 
and  try  your  ingenuity  at  expounding,  and  see  if 
you  can  destroy  one  relation  that  has  been  created 
among  men,  because  the  authority  given  in  an- 
other relation  was  abused.  The  Saviour  refers  to 
the  abuse  of  State  authority,  as  a  warning  to  those 
who  should  be  clothed  with  authority  in  his  king- 
dom, not  to  abuse  it,  but  to  connect  the  use  of  it 
with  humility.  But  how  official  humilty  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  is  to  rob  States  of  the  right 
to  make  their  own  laws,  dissolve  the  relation  of 
slavery  recognized  by  the  Saviour  as  a  lawful., 
relation,  and  overthrow  the  right  of  property  in 
slaves  as  settled  by  God  himself,  I  know  not. 
Paul,  in  drawing  the  character  of  those  who 
oppose  slavery,  in  his  letter  to  Timothj^,  says, 
(vi :  4,)  they  are  ""proud,  knowing  nothing  ;"  he 
means,  that  they  were  puffed  with  a  conceit  of 
their  superior  sanctity,  while  they  were  deplora- 
bly ignorant  of  the  will  of  Christ  on  this  subject. 
Is  it  not  great  pride  that  leads  a  man  to  think 
he  is  better  than  the  Saviour  ?  Jesus  held  fel- 
lowship with,  and  enjoined  subjection  to  govern- 
ments, which  sanctioned  slavery  in  its  worst 
form — but  abolitionists  refuse  fellowship  for  gov- 
ernments which  have  mitigated  all  its  rigors. 

God  established  the  relation  by  law,  and  be- 


68  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

stowed  the  highest  manifestations  of  his  favor 
upon  slaveholders  ;  and  has  caused  it  to  be  writ- 
ten as  with  a  sunbeam  in  the  Scriptures.  Yet 
such  saints  would  be  refused  the  ordinary  tokens 
of  Christian  fellowship  among  abolitionists.  If 
Abraham  were  on  earth,  they  could  not  let  him, 
consistently,  occupy  their  pulpits,  to  tell  of  the 
things  God  has  prepared  for  them  that  love  him. 
Job  himself  would  be  unfit  for  their  communion. 
Joseph  would  be  placed  on  a  level  with  pirates. 
Not  a  single  church  planted  by  the  Apostles 
would  make  a  fit  home  for  our  abolition  brethren, 
(for  they  all  had  masters  and  slaves.)  The  Apos- 
tles and  their  ministerial  associates  could  not 
occupy  their  pulpits,  for  they  fraternized  with 
slavery,  and  upheld  state  authority  upon  the  sub- 
ject. Now,  I  ask,  with  due  respect  for  all  parties 
can  sentiments  which  lead  to  such  results  as  these 
be  held  by  any  man,  in  the  absence  of  pride  of  no 
ordinary  character,  whether  he  be  sensible  of  it 
or  not? 

Again,  whatever  of  intellect  we  may  have — can 
that  something  which  prompts  to  results* like 
these  be  Bible  knowledge  ? 

Keference  the  8th  is  favorable  in  sound  if  not 
in  sense.  It  is  in  these  words,  "  Neither  be  ye 
called  masters,  for  one  is  your  master,  even 
Christ."  I  am  free  to  confess,  it  is  difficult  to 
repress  the  spirit  which  the  prophet  felt  when  he 
witnessed  the  zeal  of  his  deluded  countrymen,  at 
Mount  Carmel.  I  think  a  sensible  man  ought  to 
know  better,  than   to  refer  me  to  such  a  passage, 


OF   SLAVERY.  69 

to  prove  slavery  unlawful  ;  yet  my  correpondent 
is  a  sensible  man.  However,  I  will  balance  it  by 
an  equal  authority,  for  dissolving  another  rela- 
tion. "  Call  no  man  father  upon  earth,  for  one  is 
y our  father  in  heaven." 

.  When  the  last  abolishes  the  relation  between 
parent  and  child,  the  first  will  abolish  the  relation 
between  master  and  servant 

The  9th  reference  to  prove  slavery  unlawful  in 
the  sight  of  God,  is  this :  He  that  stealeth  a  man, 
and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand, 
he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death."     Wonderful! 

I  suppose  that  no  State  has  ever  established  do- 
mestic slavery,  which  did  not  find  such  a  law  ne- 
cessary. It  is  this  institution  which  makes  such  a 
law  needful.  Unless  slavery  exists,  there  would 
be  no  motive  to  steal  a  man.  And,  the  danger  is 
greater  in  a  slave  State  than  a  free  one.  Virginia 
has  such  a  law,  and  so  have  all  the  States  of 
North  America. 

Will  these  laws  prove  four  thousand  years 
hence  that  slavery  did  not  exist  in  the  United 
States  ?  No — but  why  not !  Because  the  statute 
will  still  exist,  which  authorizes  us  to  buy  bond- 
men and  bond-women  with  our  money,  and  give 
them  and  their  increase  as  an  inheritance  to  our 
children,  forever.  So  the  Mosaic  statute  still 
exists,  which  authorized  the  Jews  to  do  the  same 
thing,  and  God  is  its  author. 

Eeference  the  10th  is:  "Kob  not  the  poor 
because  he  is  poor.  Let  the  oppressed  go  free  ; 
break  every  yoke ;  deliver  him  that  is  spoiled  out 


70  SCRIPTURAL   VIEW 

of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor.  What  doth  the 
Lord  require  of  thee  but  to  do  justly,  love  mercy, 
walk  humbly  with  thy  God.  He  that  oppresseth 
the  poor  reproacheth  his  Maker."  This  sounds 
very  well,  reader,  yet  I  propose  to  make  every 
man  who  reads  me,  confess,  that  these  Scriptures 
will  not  condemn  slavery.  Answer  me  this  ques- 
tion :  Are  these,  and  such  like  passages,  in  the 
Old  Testament,  from  whence  they  are  all  taken, 
intended  to  reprove  and  condemn  that  people,  for 
doing  what  God,  in  his  law  gave  them  a  right  to 
do  ?  I  know  you  must  answer,  they  were  not ; 
consequently,  you  confess  they  do  not  condemn 
slavery  ;  because  God  gave  them  the  right,  by 
law,  to  purchase  slaves  of  the  heathen. — Levit. 
xxv :  44.  And  to  make  slaves  of  their  captives 
taken  in  war. — Deut.  xx:  14.  The  moral  pre- 
cepts of  the  Old  or  New  Testament  cannot  make 
that  wrong  which  God  ordained  to  be  his  will,  as 
lie  has  slavery. 

The  11th  reference  of  my  distinguished  corres- 
pondent to  the  sacred  volume,  to  prove  that 
slavery  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  sinful,  is  in  these  words:  " Masters,  give 
unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal." 
The  argument  of  my  correspondent  is  this,  that 
slavery  is  a  relation,  in  which  rights  based  upon 
justice  cannot  exist. 

I  answer,  God  ordained,  after  man  sinned,  that 
he,  "  should  eat  bread  (that  is,  have  food  and 
raiment)  in  the  sweat  of  his  face." 

He  has  since  ordained,  that  some  should  be 


OF  SLAVERY.  71 

slaves  to  others,  (as  we  have  proved  under  the 
first  reference.)  Therefore,  when  food  and  rai- 
ment are   withheld   from  him  in  slavery,  it   is 


God  has  ordained  food  and  raiment, 
for  the  sweat  of  the  face.  Christ  has  ordained 
that  with  these,  whether  in  slavery  or  freedom, 
his  disciples  shall  he  content. 

The  relation  of  master  and  slave,  says  Gihbon, 
existed  in  every  province  and  in  every  family  of 
the  Koman  Empire.  Jesus  ordains  in  the  13th 
chapter  of  Romans,  from  the  1st  to  the  end  of 
the  7th  verse,  and  in  1  Peter,  2nd  chapter,  13th, 
14th,  and  15th  verses,  that  the  legislative  author- 
ity, which  created  the  relation,  should  he  obeyed 
and  honored  by  his  disciples.  But  while  he  thus 
legalizes  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  as  estab- 
lished by  the  civil  law,  he  proceeds  to  prescribe 
the  mutual  duties  which  the  parties,  when  they 
come  into  his  kingdom,  must  perform  to  each 
other. 

The  reference  of  my  correspondent  to  disprove 
the  relation,  is  a  part  of  what  Jesus  has  prescibed 
on  this  subject  to  regulate  the  duties  of  the  rela- 
tion, and  is  itself  proof  that  the  relation  existed — 
that  its  legality  was  recognized — and  its  duties 
prescribed  by  the  Son  of  God  through  the  Holy 
Ghost  given  to  the  Apostles. 

The  12th  reference  is,  "Let  as  many  servants 
as  are  under  the  yoke,  count  their  masters  worthy 
of  all  honor.  And  they  that  have  believing  mas- 
ters, let  them  not  despise  them  because  they  are 


72  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

brethren,  but  ratber  do  tbem  service,  because 
they  are  faithful  and  beloved,  partakers  of  the 
benefit."  If  my  reader  will  turn  to  my  remarks, 
in  my  first  essay  upon  this  Scripture  he  will  cease 
to  wonder  that  it  fails  to  convince  me  that  slavery 
is  sinful.  I  should  think  the  wonder  would 
be,  that  any  man  ever  quoted  it  for  such  a  pur- 
pose. 

And  lastly.  My  correspondent  informs  me 
that  the  Greek  word  "doulos,"  translated  ser- 
vant, means  hired  servant  and  not  slave. 

I  reply,  that  the  primary  meaning  of  this 
Greek  word,  is  in  a  singular  state  of  preserva- 
tion. God,  as  if  foreseeing  and  providing  for 
this  controversy,  has  caused,  in  his  providence, 
that  its  meaning  in  Greek  dictionaries  shall  be 
thus  given,  "the  opposite  of  free."  Now,  read- 
ers, what  is  the  opposite  of  free?  Is  it  a  state 
somewhere  between  freedom  and  slavery?  If 
freedom,  as  a  condition,  has  an  opposite,  that 
opposite  state  is  indicated  by  this  very  word 
"doulos."  So  says  every  Greek  lexicographer. 
I  ask,  if  this  is  not  wonderful,  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  used  a  term,  so  incapable  of  deceiving, 
and  yet  that  that  term  should  be  brought  forward 
for  the  purpose  of  deception.  Another  remarka- 
ble fact  is  this  :  the  English  word  servant,  origi- 
nally meant  precisely  the  same  thing  as  the 
Greek  word  "doulos ;"  that  is,  says  Dr.  Johnson 
in  his  Dictionary,  it  meant  formerly  a  captive 
taken  in  war,  and  reserved  for  slavery.  These 
are   two   remarkable  facts  in  the  providence   of 


Of  SLAVERY.  73 

God.  But,  reader,  I  will  give  yon  a  Bible  key, 
by  which  to  decide  for  yourself,  without  foreign 
aid,  whether  servant,  when  it  denotes  a  relation 
in  society,  where  the  other  side  of  that  relation 
is  master,  means  hired  servant.  ic Every  man's 
servant  that  is  bought  for  money  shall  eat  there- 
of; but  a  hired  servant  shall  not  eat  thereof." — 
Exod.  xii:  44,  45.  Here  are  two  classes  of  serv- 
ants alluded  to — one  was  allowed  to  eat  the  Pass- 
over the  night  Israel  left  Egypt;  the  other  not. 
"What  was  the  difference  in  these  two  classes? 
Were  they  both  hired  servants  ?  If  so,  it  should 
read,  u Every  hired  servant  that  is  bought  for 
money  shall  eat  thereof;  but  a  hired  servant  that 
is  bought  for  money,  shall  not  eat  thereof."  My 
reader,  why  has  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  presiding 
over  the  inspired  pen,  been  thus  particular?  Is 
it  too  much  to  say,  it  was  to  provide  against  the  f 
delusion  of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  learned  \  ' 
men  would  be  practicing  upon  unlearned  men,  as 
well  as  themselves,  on  the  subject  of  slavery? 
Who,  with  the  Bible  and  their  learning,  would 
not  be  able  to  discover,  that  a  servant  bought 
with  money  was  a  slave  ;  and  that  a  hired  servant 
was  a  free  man  ?  Again,  Levit.  xxv  :  44,  45,  and 
46  ;  "  Thy  bond-servants  shall  be  of  the  heathen 
that  are  round  about  you,  and  of  the  children  of 
the  strangers  that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them 
shall  ye  buy.  And  they  shall  be  j^our  possession 
and  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance,  for 
your    children    after   you,   to   inherit   them   for 


74  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

a  possession,  they  shall  be  your  bond-men  for- 
ever." 

Header,  were  these  hired  servants  ?  If  so,  they 
hired  themselves  for  a  long  time.  And  what  is 
very  singular,  they  hired  their  posterity  for  all 
time  to  come.  And  what  is  still  more  singular, 
the  wages  were  paid,  not  to  the  servant,  but  to  a 
former  owner  or  master.  And  what  is  still 
stranger,  they  hired  themselves  and  their  poster- 
ity to  be  an  inheritance  to  their  master  and  his 
posterity  forever !  Yet,  reader,  J  am  told  by  my 
distingushed  correspondent,  that  servant  in  the 
Scriptures,  when  used  to  designate  a  relation, 
means  only  hired  servant.  Again,  I  ask,  were 
the  enslaved  captives  in  Deut.  xx  :  10,  11,  12,  13, 
14,  15,  hired  servants? 
^»  One   of  the   greatest   and   best   of  men   ever 

^ff  *yJ   raised  at  the  North,  (I  mean  Luther  Kice,)  once 

^^•(A/&/L/told  me  when  I  quoted  the  law  of  God  for  the. 

A\  0        purchase  of  slaves  from  the  heathen,  (in  order  to 

//\  CjJ  silence  his  argument  about  "doulos,"  and  hired 
servant,)  I  say  he  told  me  positively,  there  was 
no  such  law.  When  I  opened  the  Bible  and 
showed  it  to  him,  his  shame  was  very  visible. 
(And  I  hope  he  is  not  the  only  great  and  good 
man,  that  God  will  put  to  shame  for  being  igno- 
rant of  his  Word.)  But  he  never  opened  his 
'mouth  to  me  about  slavery  again  while  he  lived. 
If  my  reader  does  no  better  than  he  did,  at 
least  let  him  not  fight  against  God  for  establish- 
ing the  institution  of  "chattel"  slavery  in  his 
kingdom,  nor  against  me  for  believing  he  did  do 


mi 

41 


OF  SLAVERY.  75 

It.  /  But,  reader,  if  you  have  the  hardihood  to 
Insist  that  these  were  hired  servants,  and  not 
slaves  after  all,  then,  I  answer,  that  ours  are 
hired  servants,  too,  and  not  slaves ;  and  so  the 
dispute  ends  favorably  to  the  South,  and  it  is 
lawful  for  us,  according  to  abolition  admissions, 
to  hold  them  to  servitude.  For  ours,  we  paid 
money  to  a  former  owner ;  so  did  the  Jews  for 
theirs.  The  increase  of  ours  passes  as  an  inher- 
itance to  our  children,  so  did  the  increase  of  the 
Jewish  servants  pass  as  an  inheritance  to  their 
children,  to  he  an  inheritance  forever.  And  all 
this  took  place  by  the  direction  of  Grod  to  his 
chosen  people. 

My  correspondent  thinks  with  Mr.  Jefferson., 
that  Jehovah  has  no  attributes  that  will  harmo- 
nize with  slavery  ;  and  that  all  men  are  born 
free  and  equal.  Now,  I  say  let  him  throw  away 
his  Bible  as  Mr.  Jefferson  did  his,  and  then  they 
will  be  fit  companions.  But  never  disgrace  the 
Bible  by  making  Mr.  Jefferson  its  expounder,  nor 
Mr.  Jefferson  by  deriving  his  sentiments  from  it. 
Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  bow  to  the  authority  of  the 
Bible,  and  on  this  subject  I  do  not  bow  to  him. 
How  can  any  man,  who  believes  the  Bible,  admit 
for  a  moment  that  God  intended  to  teach  mankind 
hy  the  Bible,  that  all  are  born  free  and  equal  ? 

Men  who  engage  in  this  controversy  ought  to 

look  into  the  Bible,  and  see  what  is  in  it  about 

slavery.     I  do  not  know  how  to  account  for  such 

men  saying,  as  my  correspondent  does,  that  the 

slave  of  the  Mosaic  law,  purchased  of  the  hea- 
d2 


i 


76  SCRIPTURAL  VIEW 

then,  was  a  hired  servant ;  and  that  both  he  and 
the  Hebrew  hired  servant  of  the  same  law,  had  a 
passport  from  God  to  run  away  from  their  mas- 
ters with  impunity,  to  prove  which  is  the  object 
of  one  of  his  quotations.  Again,  New  Testa- 
ment servants  and  masters  are  not  the  servants 
and  masters  of  the  Mosaic  law,  but  the  servants 
and  masters  of  the  Koman  Empire.  To  go  to 
the  law  of  Moses  to  find  out  the  statutes  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  is  folly.  Yet  on  this  subject  the 
difference  is  not  great,  and  so  far  as  humanity 
(in  the  abolition  sense  of  it)  is  concerned,  is  in 
W  favor  of  the  Eoman  law. 

The  laws  of  each  made  slaves  to  be  property  ? 
and  allowed  them  to  be  bought  and  sold.  See 
Gibbon's  Rome,  vol.  i:  pp.  25,  26,  and  Lev.  xxv: 
44,  45,  46.  The  laws  of  each  allowed  prisoners 
taken  in  war  to  be  enslaved.  See  Gibbon  as 
above,  and  Deut.  xx:  10 — 15.  The  difference 
was  this :  the  Roman  law  allowed  men  taken  in 
battle  to  be  enslaved — the  Jewish  law  required 
the  men  taken  in  battle  to  be  put  to  death,  and  to 
enslave  their  wives  and  children.  In  the  case  of 
the  Midianites,  the  mercy  of  enslaving  some  of 
the  women  was  denied  them  because  they  had 
enticed  the  Israelites  into  sin,  and  subjected  them 
to  a  heavy  judgment  under  Balaam's  counsel,  and 
for  a  reason  not  assigned,  the  mercy  of  slavery 
was  denied  to  the  male  children  in  this  special 
case.     See  Numbers  xxxi :  15,  16,  17. 

The  first  letter  to  Timothy,  while  at  Ephesus, 
if  rightly  understood,  would  do  much  to  stay  the 


Otf  SLAVERY.  ff 

hands  of  men,  who  have  more  zeal  than  know- 
ledge on  this  subject.  See  again  what  I  have 
written  in  my  first  essay  on  this  letter.  In  addi- 
tion to  what  I  have  there  said,  I  would  state,  that 
the  "other  doctrine,"  1  Tim.  i:  2,  which  Paul 
says,  must  not  be  taught,  I  take  to  be  a  principle 
tantamount  to  this,  that  Jesus  Christ  proposed 
to  subordinate  the  civil  to  ecclesiastical  authority. 

The  doctrine  which  was  "according  to  godliness" 
1  Tim,  vi:  3,  I  take  to  be  a  principle  which  subor- 
dinated the  church,  or  Christ  in  his  members,  to 
civil  governments,  or  "the  powers  that  be."  One 
principle  was  seditious,  and  when  consummated 
must  end  in  the  man  of  sin.  The  other  principle 
was  practically  a  quiet  submission  to  govern- 
ment, as  an  ordinance  of  God  in  the  hands  of 
men. 

The  Abolitionists,  at  Ephesus,  in  attempting  to 
interfere  with  the  relations  of  slavery,  and  to 
unsettle  the  rights  of  property,  acted  upon  a, 
principle,  which  statesmen  must  see,  would  in 
the  end,  subject  the  whole  frame-work  of  govern- 
ment to  the  supervision  of  the  church,  and  termi- 
nate in  the  man  of  sin,  or  a  pretended  successor 
of  Christ,  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God,  and 
claiming  a  right  to  reign  over,  and  control  the 
civil  governments  of  the  world.  The  Apostle, 
therefore,  chapter  ii:  1,  to  render  the  doctrine  of 
subordination  to  the  State  a  very  prominent 
doctrine,  and  to  cause  the  knowledge  of  it  to 
spread  among  all  who  attended  their  worship, 
orders  that  the  very  first  thing  4one  by  the 
d3 


*78  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

church  should  be,  that  of  making  supplication, 
prayers,  and  intercessions,  and  giving  God  thanks 
for  all  men  that  were  placed  in  authority,  by  the 
State,  for  the  administration  of  civil  government. 
He  assigns  the  reason  for  this  injunction,  "that 
we  may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  all  god- 
liness and  honesty." 

My  correspondent  complains,  that  Abolitionists 
at  the  iSrorth  are  not  safe  when  they  come  among 
us.  They  are  much  safer  than  the  -saints  of 
Ephesus  would  have  been  in  the  Apostolic  clay, 
if  Paul  would  have  allowed  the  seditious  doctrine 
to  be  propogated  which  our  Northern  brethren 
think  it  such  a  merit  to  preach,  when  it  subjects 
them  to  no  risk.  How  can  they  expect,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  to  lead  a  quiet  and  peacea- 
ble life  when  they  come  among  us?  They 
are  organized  to  overthrow  our  sovereignty — to 
put  our  lives  in  peril,  and  to  trample  upon  Bible 
principles,  by  which  the  rights  of  property  are  to 
be  settled. 

Questions  and  strife's  of  words  characterized 
the  disputes  of  the  Abolitionists  at  Ephesus  about 
slavery.  It  is  amusing  and  painful  to  see  the 
questions  and  strifes  of  words  in  the  piece  of  my 
correspondent.  Many  of  these  questions  are 
about  our  property  right  in  slaves.  The  substance 
of  them  is  this:  that  the  present  title  is  not  good, 
because  the  original  title  grew  out  of  violence 
and  injustice.  -  But,  reader,  our  original  title  was 
obtained  in  the  same  way  which  God  in  his  law 
authorized  his  people    to   obtain   theirs.     They 


OF  SLAVERY.  ?9 

obtained  their  slaves  by  purchase  of  those  who 
made  them  captives  in  the  hazards  of  war?  or  by 
conquest  with  their  own  sword.  My  correspon- 
dent speaks  at  one  time  as  if  ours  were  stolen  in 
the  first  instance ;  but,  as  if  forgetting  that,  in 
another  place  he  says,  that  so  great  is  the  hazard 
attending  the  wars  of  Africa,  that  one  life  is  lost 
for  every  two  that  are  taken  captive  and  sold  into 
slavery.  If  this  is  stealing,  it  has  at  least  the 
merit  of  being  more  manly  than  some  that  is 
practised  among  us. 

A  case  seems  to  have  been  preserved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  as  if  to  rebuke  this  abolition  doctrine 
about  property  rights.  It  is  the  case  of  the  King 
of  Ammon,  a  heathen,  on  the  one  side,  and 
Jephtha,  who  cc  obtained  a  good  report  by  faith/' 
on  the  other.  It  is  consoling  to  us  that  we 
occupy  the  ground  Jephtha  did — and  we  may 
well  suspect  the  correctness  of  the  other  side, 
because  it  is  the  ground  occupied  by  Ammon. 
The  case  is  this:  A  heathen  is  seen  menacing 
Israel.  Jephtha  is  selected  by  his  countrymen  to 
conduct  the  controversy.  He  sends  a  message  to 
his  menacing  neighbor,  to  know  why  he  had 
come  out  against  him.  He  returned  for  answer, 
that  it  was  because  Israel  held  property  to  which 
they  had  no  right.  Jephtha  answered,  they  had 
had  it  in  possession  for  three  hundred  years. 
Ammon  replied,  they  had  no  right  to  it,  because 
it  was  obtained  in  the  first  instance  by  violence. 
Jephtha  replied,  that  it  was  held  by  the  same  sort 

of  a  title   as  that  by  which  Ammon  held  his 
d4 


80  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

possessions — that  is  to  say,  whatever  Amnion's 
god  Chernosh  enabled  him  to  take  in  war,  he  con- 
sidered to  be  his  of  right ;  and  that  Israel's  God 
had  assisted  them  to  take  this  property,  and  they 
considered  the  title  to  be  such  an  one  as  Ammon 
was  bound  to  acknowledge. 

Ammon  stickled  for  the  eternal  principle  of 
righteousness,  and  contended  that  it  had  been 
violated  in  the  first  instance.  But,  reader,  in  the 
appeal  made  to  the  sword,  God  vindicated  Israel's 
title.— Judges  xi:  12—32. 

And  if  at  the  present  time,  we  take  ground 
with  Ammon  about  the  rights  of  property,  I  will 
not  say  how  much  work  we  may  have  to  do,  nor 
who  will  prove  the  rightful  owner  of  my  corres- 
pondent's domicil;  but  certain  I  am,  that  by  his 
Ammonitish  principle  of  settling  the  rights  of 
property,  he  will  be  ousted. 

Eeader,  in  looking  over  the  printed  reply  of 
my  correspondent  to  his  Southern  friend,  which 
occupies  ten  columns  of  a  large  newspaper,  to  see 
if  I  had  overlooked  any  scripture,  I  find  I  have 
omitted  to  notice  one  reference  to  the  sacred 
volume,  which  was  made  by  him,  for  the  general 
purpose  of  showing  that  the  Scriptures  abound 
with  moral  principles,  and  call  into  exercise 
moral  feelings  inconsistent  with  slavery.  It  is 
this:  " Inasmuch  as  you  have  done  it  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  you  have  done  it 
unto  me."  The  design  of  the  Saviour,  in  the 
parable  from  which  these  words  are  taken,  in 
Matt.    25th,   is,  to  impress   strongly   upon  the 


OF    SLAVERY.  81 

human  mind,  that  character,  deficient  in  correct 
moral  feeling ,  will  prove  fatal  to  human  hopes  in 
a  coming  day. 

But,  reader,  will  you  stop  and  ask  yourself, 
"What  is  correct  moral  feeling?"  Is  it  abhor- 
rence and  hatred  to  the  will  and  pleasure  of  God?  '  ' 
Certainly  not.  Then  it  is  not  abhorrence  and 
hatred  of  slavery,  which  seems  to  he  a  cardinal 
virtue  at  the  North.  It  has  been  the  will  and 
pleasure  of  God  to  institute  slavery  by  a  law  of 
his  own,  in  that  kingdom  over  which  he  imme-  .  i 
diately  presided;  and  to  give  it  his  sanction  when 
instituted  by  the  laws  of  men.  The  most  eleva- 
ted morality  is  enjoined  under  both  Testaments, 
upon  the  parties  in  this  relation.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  relation  inconsistent  with  its 
exercise.  } 

My  reader  will  remember  that  the  subject  in 
dispute  is,  whether  involuntary  and  hereditary 
slavery  was  ever  lawful  in  the  sight  of  God,  the 
Bible  being  judge. 

1.  I  have  shown  by  the  Bible,  that  God  decreed 
this  relation  between  the  posterity  of  Canaan, 
and  the  posterity  of  Shem  and  Japheth. 

2.  I  have  shown  that  God  executed  this  decree 
by  aiding  the  posterity  of  Shem,  (at  a  time 
when  "they  were  holiness  to  the  Lord/')  to 
enslave  the  posterity  of  Canaan  in  the  days  of 
Joshua. 

3.  I  have  shown  that  when  God  ratified  the 

covenant  of  promise  with  Abraham,  he  recognized 

Abraham  as  the  owner  of  slaves  he  had  bought 
d5 


82  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

with  his  money  of  the  stranger,  and  recorded  his 
approbation  of  the  relation,  by  commanding 
Abraham  to  crrcumcise  them. 

4.  I  have  shown  that  when  he  took  Abraham's 
posterity  by  the  hand  in  Egypt,  live  hundred 
years  afterwards,  he  publicly  approbated  the 
same  relation,  by  permitting  every  slave  they 
had  bought  with  their  money  to  eat  the  passover, 
while  he  refused  the  same  privilege  to  their  hired 
servants. 

5.  I  have  shown  that  God,  as  their  national 
lawgiver,  ordained  by  express  statute,,  that  they 

(  !     should  buy  slaves  of  the  nations  around  them, 
(the  seven  devoted. nations  excepted,)  and  that 
these  slaves  and  their  increase  should  be  a  per- 
petual inheritance  to  their  children. 
I      6.  I  have  shown  that  God  ordained  slavery  by 
law  for   their   captives  taken   in  war,  while  he 
jjM      guaranteed  a  successful  issue  to  their  wars,  so  long 
]£jQ       as  they  obeyed  him.  ^ 

7.  I  have  shown  that  when  Jesus  ordered  his 
gospel  to  be  published  through  the  world,  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave  existed  by  law  in 
every  province  and  family  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
as  it  had  done  in  the  Jewish  commonwealth  for 
fifteen  hundred  years. 

8.  I  have  shown  that  Jesus  ordained,  that  the 
legislative  authority,  which  created  this  relation 
in  that  empire,  should  be  obeyed  and  honored  as 
an  ordinance  of  God,  as  all  government  is  de- 
clared to  be. 

9.  I  have   shown   that   Jesus   has   prescribed 


OF  SLAVERY.  83 

the  mutual  duties  of  this  relation  in  his  king- 
dom. 

10.  And  lastly,  I  have  shown,  that  in  an 
attempt  by  his  professed  followers  to  disturb  this 
relation  in  the  Apostolic  churches,  Jesus  orders 
that  fellowship  shall  be  disclaimed  with  all  such 
disciples,  as  seditious  persons — whose  conduct 
was  not  only  dangerous  to  the  State,  but  destruc- 
tive to  the  true  character  of  the  gospel  dispensa- 
tion. 

This  being  the  case,  as  will  appear  by  the 
recorded  language  of  the  Bible,  to  which  we 
have  referred  you,  reader,  of  what  use  is  it 
to  argue  against  it  from  moral  requirements  ? 

They  regulate  the  duties  of  this  and  all  other 
lawful  relations  among  men — but  they  cannot 
abolish  any  relation,  ordained  or  sanctioned  of 
God,  as  is  slavery. 

I  would  be  understood  as  referring  for  proof  of 
this  summary,  to  my  first  as  well  as  my  present 
essay. 

When  I  first  wrote,  I  did  suppose  the  Scrip- . 
tures  had  been  examined  by  leading  men  in  the 
opposition,  and  that  prejudice  had  blinded  their 
eyes.  I  am  now  of  a  different  opinion.  What 
will  be  the  effect  of  this  discussion,  I  will  not 
venture  to  predict,  knowing  human  nature  as 
well  as  I  do.  But  men  who  are  capable  of  exer- 
cising candor  must  see,  that  it  is  not  against  an 
institution  unknown  to  the  Bible,  or  declared  by 
its  author  to  be  sinful,  that  the  North  is  waging 
war. 

d6 


84  SCRIPTURAL  VIEW 

Their  hostility  must  be  transferred  from  us  to 
God,  who  established  slavery  by  law  in  that 
kingdom  over  which  he  condescended  to  preside  ; 
and  to  Jesus,  who  recognized  it  as  a  relation 
established  in  Israel  by  his  father,  and  in  the 
Koman  government  by  men,  which  he  bound  his 
followers  to  obey  and  honor. 

In  defending  the  institution  as  one  which  has 
the  sanction  of  our  Maker,  I  have  done  what  I 
considered,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
our  common  country,  to  be  a  Christian  duty.  I 
have  set  down  nought  in  malice.  I  have  used  no 
sophistry.  I  have  brought  to  the  investigation 
of  the  subject,  common  sense.  I  have  not  relied 
on  powers  of  argument,  learning,  or  ingenuity. 
These  would  neither  put  the  subject  into  the 
Bible  nor  take  it  out.  It  is  a  Bible  question.  I 
have  met  it  fairly,  and  fully,  according  to  the 
acknowledged  principles  of  the  Abolitionists.  I 
have  placed  before  my  reader  what  is  in  the  Bible, 
to  prove  that  slavery  has  the  sanction  of  God, 
and  is  not  sinful.  I  have  placed  before  him  what 
I  suppose  to  be  the  quintessence  of  all  that  can 
be  gleaned  from  the  Bible  to  disprove  it. 

I  have  made  a  few  plain  reflections  to  aid 
the  understanding  of  my  reader.  What  I  have 
written  was  designed  for  those  who  reverence 
the  Bible  as  their  counsellor — who  take  it  for 
rules  of  conduct,  and  devotional  sentiments. 

I  now  commit  it  to  God  for  his  blessing,  with 
a  fervent  desire,  that  if  I  have  mistaken  his  will 
in  anything,  lie  will  not  suffer  my  error  to  mis- 
lead another.  Thornton  stringfellow. 


OF  SLAVERY.  85 


[The  following  letter,  in  substance,  was  written  to  a  brother  in  Kentucky, 
who  solicited  a  copy  of  my  slavery  pamphlet,  as  well  as  my  opinion  on  the 
movement  in  that  State,  on  the  subject  of  emancipation.] 


Dear  Brother: 

I  received  your  letter,  and  the 
slavery  pamphlet  which  you  requested  me  to  send 
you,  I  herewith  enclose. 

When  I  published  the  first  essay  in  that 
pamphlet,  I  intended  to  invite  a  discussion  with 
Elder  Galusha,  of  New  York ;  and  when  I  re- 
ceived Mr.  Galusha' s  letter  to  Dr.  Fuller,  I  still 
expected  a  discussion.  But  after  manifesting,  on 
his  part,  great  pleasure  in  the  outset,  for  the 
opportunity  tendered  him  by  a  Southern  man,  to 
discuss  this  subject,  he  ultimately  declined  it. 
This  being  the  case,  I  did  not  at  that  time  present 
as  full  a  view  of  the  subject  as  the  Scriptures 
furnish.  I  have  since  thought  of  supplying  this 
deficiency ;  and  the  condition  of  things  in  Ken- 
tucky furnishes  a  fit  opportunity  for  saying  to 
you,  what  I  said  to  a  brother  in  Pennsylvania, 
who,  like  yourself,  requested  me  to  send  him  a 
copy  of  my  pamphlet. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  could  add  anything,  be- 
yond what  I  said  to  him,  that  would  be  useful  to 
you.  To  this  brother  I  said,  among  other  things, 
that  Dr.  Wayland  (in  his  discussion  with  Dr.  Ful- 
ler,) relied  principally  upon  tivo  arguments,  used 
by  all  the  intelligent  abolitionists,  to  overthrow 
the  weight  of  Scriptural  authority  in  support  of 


86  SCRIPTURAL   VIEW 

slavery.  The  first  of  these  arguments  is  designed 
to  neutralize  the  sanction  given  to  slavery  by  the 
law  of  Moses ;  and  the  second  is  designed  to  neu- 
tralize the  sanction  given  to  slavery  by  the  New 
Testament. 

The  Dr.  frankly  admits,  that  the  law  of  Moses 
did  establish  slavery  in  the  Jewish  common- 
wealth ;  and  he  admits  with  equal  frankness,  that 
it  was  incorporated  as  an  element  in  the  gospel 
church.  For  the  purpose,  however,  of  destroying 
the  sanction  thus  given  to  the  legality  of  the 
relation  under  the  laiv  of  Moses,  he  assumes  two 
things  in  relation  to  it,  which  are  expressly  con- 
tradicted by  the  law.  He  assumes,  in  the  first 
place,  that  the  Almighty,  under  the  law,  gave  a 
special  permission  to  the  Israelites  to  enslave  the 
seven  devoted  nations,  as  a  punishment  for  their 
sins.  He  then  assumes,  in  the  second  place,  that 
this  special  permission  to  enslave  the  seven  na- 
tions, prohibited,  by  implication,  the  enslaving  of 
all  other  nations.  -The  conclusion  which  the  Dr. 
draws  from  the  above  assumptions  is  this — that  a 
special  permission  under  the  law,  to  enslave  a  par- 
ticular people,  as  a  punishment  for  their  sins,  is 
not  a  general  permission  under  the  gospel,  to  en- 
slave all,  or  any  other  people.  The  premises  here 
assumed,  and  from  which  this  conclusion  is  drawn 
are  precisely  the  reverse  of  what  is  recorded  in 
the  Bible. 

The  Bible  statement  is  this  :  that  the  Israelites 
under  the  law,  so  far  from  being  permitted  or 
required  to  enslave  the  seven  nations,  as  a  pun- 


OF  SLAVERY.  87 

ishment  for  their  sins,  were  expressly  commanded 
to  destroy  them  utterly.  Here  is  the  proof — Deut. 
vii:  1  and  2:  "When  the  Lord  thy  God  shall 
bring  thee  into  the  land  whither  thou  goest  to 
possess  it,  and  hath  cast  out  many  nations  before 
thee,  the  Hittites,  and  the  Girgashites,  and  the 
Amorites,  and  the  Oanaanites,  and  the  Perizzites, 
and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites,  seven  nations 
greater  and  mightier  than  thou ;  and  when  the 
Lord  thy  God  shall  deliver  them  before  thee,  thou 
shalt  smite  them,  and  utterly  destroy  them,  thou 
shalt  make  no  covenant  with  them,  nor  show 
mercy  unto  them."  And  again,  in  Deut.  xx  :  16 
and  17  :  "  But  of  the  cities  of  these  people,  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  doth  give  thee  for  an  inherit- 
ance, thou  shalt  save  alive  nothing  that  breatheth. 
But  thou  shalt  utterly  destroy  them,  namely,  the 
Hittites,  and  the  Amorites,  the  Canaanites,  and 
the  Perizzites,  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites,  as 
the  Lord  thy  God  hath  commanded  thee."  This 
law  was  delivered  by  Moses,  and  was  executed  by 
Joshua  some  years  afterwards,  to  the  letter. 

Here  is  the  proof  of  it,  Josh,  xi :  14  to  20 
inclusive :  "  And  all  the  spoil  of  these  cities,  and 
the  cattle,  the  children  of  Israel  took  for  a  prey 
unto  themselves ;  but  every  man  they  smote  ivith 
the  edge  of  the  sword  until  they  had  destroyed  them, 
neither  left  they  any  to  breathe." 

u  As  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  his  servant; 
so  did  Moses  command  Joshua,  and  so  did  Joshua; 
he  left  nothing  undone  of  all  that  the  Lord  com- 
manded Moses.     So  Joshua  took  all  that  land. 


88  SCRIPTURAL   VIEW 

the  "hills  and  all  the  south  country,  and  all  the 
land  of  Goshen,  and  the  valley  and  the  plain, 
and  the  mountain  of  Israel,  and  the  valley  of  the 
same.  Even  from  the  mount  Halak  that  goeth 
up  to  Sier,  even  unto  Baalgad,  in  the  valley  of 
Lebanon,  under  mount  Herrnon,  and  all  their 
kings  he  took,  and  smote  them,  and  slew  them. 
Joshua  made  war  a  long  time  with  all  those 
kings.  There  was  not  a  city  that  made  peace 
with  the  children  of  Israel,  save  the  Hivites,  the 
inhabitants  of  Gibeon,  all  others  they  took  in  bat- 
tle. For  it  was  of  the  Lord  to  harden  their 
hearts,  that  they  should  come  against  Israel  in 
battle,  that  he  might  destroy  them  utte7*ly,  and  that 
they  might  have  no  favor,  but  that  he  might  de- 
stroy them,  as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses"  In 
this  account  of  their  destruction,  the  Gibeonites, 
who  deceived  Joshua,  are  excepted,  and  the  reason 
given  is,  that  Joshua  in  their  case,  failed  to  ask 
counsel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.  Here  is  the 
proof:  "And  the  men  took  of  them  victuals,  and 
asked  not  counsel  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord." — 
(Josh,  ix:  14.)  This  counsel  Joshua  was  expressly 
commanded  to  ask,  when  he  was  ordained  some 
time  before,  to  be  the  executor  of  God's  legislative 
ivill*  by  Moses.  Here  is  the  proof,  (Numb,  xxvii : 
18—23 :)  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Take 
thee  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  a  man  in  whom 
is  the  spirit,  and  lay  thy  hand  upon  him  ;  and 
set  him  before  Eleazar  the  priest,  and  before  all 
the  congregation  ;  and  give  him  a  charge  in  their 
sight.     And  thou  shalt  put  some  of  thine  honor 


0¥   SLAVERY.  89 

upon  him,  that  all  the  congregation  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  may  be  obedient.  And  he  shall 
stand  before  Eleazar  the  priest,  who  shall  ash  coun- 
sel for  him,  after  the  judgment  of  Urim  before  the 
Lord :  at  his  word  shall  they  go  out,  and  at  his 
word  shall  they  come  in,  both  he  and  all  the  children 
of  Israel  with  him,  even  all  the  congregation. 
And  Moses  did  as  the  Lord  commanded  him  ; 
and  he  took  Joshua  and  set  him  before  Eleazar 
the  priest,  and  before  all  the  congregation.  And 
he  laid  his  hands  upon  him,  and  gave  him  a 
charge,  as  the  Lord  commanded  by  the  hand  of 
Moses."  These  scriptures  furnish  a  palpable  con- 
tradiction of  the  first  assumption,  that  is — that 
the  Lord  gave  a  special  permission  to  enslave  the 
seven  nations.  The  Lord  ordered  that  they 
should  be  destroyed  utterly. 

As  to  the  second  assumption,  so  far  from  the 
Israelites  being  prohibited  bg  implication,  from 
enslaving  the  subjects  of  other  nations,  they 
were  expressly  authorized  by  the  law  to  make 
slaves  by  war,  of  any  other  nation.  Here  is  the 
proof — Deut.  xx:  10  to  17  inclusive:  ''When 
thou  comest  nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight  against  it, 
then  proclaim  peace  unto  it.  And  it  shall  be  if 
it  make  thee  answer  of  peace,  and  open  unto 
thee,  then  it  shall  be,  that  all  the  people  that  is 
found  therein,  shall  be  tributaries  unto  thee,  and 
they  shall  serve  thee.  And  if  it  will  make  no 
peace  with  thee,  but  will  make  war  against  thee, 
then  thou  shalt  besiege  it.  And  when  the  Lord 
thy  God  hath  delivered  it  into  thy  hands,  then 


90  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

shalt  thou  smite  every  male  thereof  with  the 
edge  of  the  sword.  But  the  women  and  the  little 
ones,  and  the  cattle,  and  all  that  is  in  the  city, 
even  all  the  spoils  thereof,  shalt  thou  take  unto 
thyself;  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  spoil  of  thine 
enemies,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given 
thee.  Thus  shalt  thou  do  unto  all  the  cities  which 
are  very  far  off  from  thee  ivhich  are  not  of  the 
cities  of  these  nations.  But  of  the  cities  of  these 
people,  ivhich  the  Lord  thy  God  doth  give  thee 
for  an  inheritance,  thou  shalt  save  alive  nothing 
that  breatheth.  But  thou  shalt  utterly  destroy  them, 
namely,  the  Hittites,  and  the  Amorites,  the  Canaan- 
ites,  and  the  Perizzites,  the  Hivites,  and  the 
Jebusites,  as  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  command- 
ed thee."  They  were  authorized  also  by  the 
law,  to  purchase  slaves  with  money  of  any 
nation  except  the  seven.  Here  is  the  proof — 
Lev.  xxv :  44,  45,  and  46:  "Both  thy  bond-men 
and  thy  bond-maids,  which  thou  shalt  havje,  shall 
be  of  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you ; 
(that  is,  round  about  the  country  given  them  of 
God,  which  was  the  country  of  the  seven  nations 
they  were  soon  to  occupy ;)  of  them  shall  ye  buy 
bond-men  and  bond-maids.  Moreover,  of  the 
children  of  the  strangers  that  clo  sojourn  among 
you,  (that  is,  the  mixed  multitude  of  strangers 
which  came  up  with  them  from  Egypt,  mentioned 
in  Exodus  xii :  38,)  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of 
their  families  that  are  with  you,  which  they  begat 
in  your  land;  and  they  shall  be  your  possession. 
And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for 


OF   SLAVERY.  91 

your  children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a 
possession,  they  shall  be  your  bond-men  forever." 

Now,  let  it  be  noted  that  this  first  law,  of 
Deut.  xx :  above  referred  to,  which  authorized 
them  to  make  slaves  by  war  of  any  other  nation, 
was  executed  for  the  first  time,  under  the  direction 
of  Moses  himself,  when  thirty-two  thousand  of 
the  Midianites  were  enslaved.  These  slaves  were 
not  of  the  seven  nations. 

And  it  is  worthy  of  further  remark,  that  of 
each  half,  into  which  the  Lord  had  these  slaves 
divided,  he  claimed  for  his  portion,  one  slave  of 
every  five  hundred  for  the  priests,  and  one  slave 
of  every  fifty  for  the  Levites.  These  slaves  he 
gave  to  the  priests  and  Levites,  who  were  his 
representatives,  to  be  their  property  forever. — 
Numb.  xxxi.  These  scriptures  palpably  contra- 
dict the  Dr/s  second  assumption — that  is,  that 
they  were  prohibited  by  implication  from  enslaving 
the  subjects  of  any  other  nation.  The  Dr/s  as- 
sumptions being  the  antipodes  of  truth,  they 
cannot  furnish  a-conclusion  that  is  warranted  by 
the  truth. 

The  conclusion  authorized  by  the  truth,  is 
this:  that  the  making  of  slaves  by  war,  and  the 
purchase  of  slaves  with  money,  was  legalized  by 
the  Almighty  in  the  Jewish  commonwealth, 
as  regards  the  subjects  of  all  nations  except  the 
seven. 

The  second  argument  of  the  Dr/s,  as  I  re- 
marked, is  designed  to  neutralize  the  sanction 
given  to  slavery  in  the  New  Testament. 


92  gCKIPTURAL    VIEW 

The  Dr.  frankly  admits  that  slavery  was 
sanctioned  by  the  Apostles  in  the  Apostolic 
churches.  But  to  neutralize  this  sanction,  he  re- 
sorts to  two  more  assumptions,  not  only  without 
proof,  but  palpably  contradicted  by  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  text.  The  first  assumption  is 
this — that  polygamy  and  divorce  were  both  sins 
under  the  law  of  Moses,  although  sanctioned  by  the 
law.  And  the  second  assumption  is,  that  polyg- 
amy and  divorce  are  Jcnoum  to  be  sins  under  the 
gospel,  not  by  any  gospel  teaching  or  prohibition, 
but  by  the  general  principles  of  morality.  From 
these  premises  the  conclusion  is  drawn,  that 
although  slavery  was  sanctioned  in  the  Apostolic 
church,  yet  it  was  a  sin,  because,  like  polygamy 
and  divorce,  it  was  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
the  moral  law.  The  premises  from  which  this 
conclusion  is  drawn,  are  at  issue  with  the  word  of 
God,  and  therefore  the  conclusion  must  be  false. 
The  first  thing  here  assumed  is,  that  polygamy 
and  divorce,  although  sanctioned  by  the  law  of 
Moses,  were  both  sins  under  that  law.  Now,  so 
far  from  this  being  true,  as  to  polygamy,  it  is  a 
fact  that  polygamy  was  not  only  sanctioned,  when 
men  chose  to  practice  it,  but  it  was  expressly 
enjoined  by  the  law  in  certain  cases,  and  a  most 
humiliating  penalty  annexed  to  the  breech  of  the 
command.— Deut.  xxv:  5 — 9.  As  sin  is  defined 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  a  transgression  of  the 
law,  it  is  impossible  that  polygamy  could  have 
been  a  sin  under  the  law,  unless  it  was  a  sin  to 
obey  the  law,  and  an   act   of  righteousness  to 


OF  SLAVERY.  93 

transgress  it.  That  polygamy  was  a  sin  under 
the  law,  therefore,  is  palably  false. 

As  to  divorce,  the  Almighty  gave  it  the  full 
and  explicit  sanction  of  his  authority,  in  the  law 
of  Moses,  for  various  causes. — (Deut.  xxiv:  1.) 
For  those  causes,  therefore,  divorce*  could  not 
have  been  a  sin  under  the  law,  unless  human 
conduct,  in  exact  accordance  with  the  law  of  God, 
was  sinful.  The  first  thing  assumed  by  the  Dr., 
therefore,  that  polygamy  and  divorce  were  both 
sins,  under  the  law,  is  proved  to  be  false.  They 
were  lawful,  and  therefore,  could  not  be  sinful. 

The  Dr.'s  second  assumption  (with  respect  to 
polygamy  and  divorce,)  is  this,  that  they  are 
knoivn  under  the  gospel  to  be  sins,  not  by  the 
prohibitory  precepts  of  the  gospel,  but  by  the 
general  principles  of  morality.  This  assumption 
is  certainly  a  very  astonishing  one — for  Jesus 
Christ  in  one  breath  has  uttered*  language  as  per- 
fectly subversive  of  all  authority  for  polygamy  and 
divorce  in  his  kingdom,  as  light  is  subversive  of 
darkness.  The  Pharisees,  ever  desirous  of  ex- 
posing him  to  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  the 
people,  " asked  him  in  the  presence  of  great 
multitudes,  who  came  with  him  from  Galilee  into 
the  coasts  of  Judea  beyond  Jordan,"  whether  he 
admitted,  with  Moses,  the  legality  of  divorce  for 
every  cause.  Their  object  was  to  provoke  him  to 
the  exercise  of  legislative  authority ;  to  whom  he 
promptly  replied,  that  God  made  man  at  the 
beginning,  male  and  female,  and  ordained  that 
the  male  and  female  by  marriage,  should  bo  one 


94  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

flesh.  And  for  satisfactory  reasons,  had  sanctioned 
divorce  among  Abraham's  seed;  and  then  adds, 
as  a  law-giver,  "But  I  say  unto  you,  that  whoso- 
ever shall  put  away  his  wife,  (except  for  fornica- 
tion,) and  shall  marry  another,  committeth 
adultery;  and  if  a  woman  put  away  her  hus- 
band, and  marry  again,  she  committeth  adulte- 
ry. Here  polygamy  and  divorce  die  together. 
The  law  of  Christ  is,  that  neither  party  shall 
put  the  other  away — that  either  party,  taking 
another  companion,  while  the  first  compan- 
ion lives,  is  guilty  of  adultery — consequently, 
polygamy  and  divorce  are  prohibited  forever, 
unless  this  law  is  violated — and  that  violation  is 
declared  to  be  adultery,  which  excludes  from  his 
kingdom. — 1  Cor.  vi:  9.  After  the  church  was 
organized,  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  Paul,  commands , 
let  not  the  wife  depart  from  her  husband,  but, 
and  if  she  depart  let  her  remain  unmarried — and 
let  not  the  husband  put  away  his  wife,  1  Cor.  vii: 
10.  Here  divorce  is  prohibited  to  both  parties;  a 
second  marriage  according  to  Christ,  would  be 
adultery,  while  the  first  companion  lives ;  conse- 
quently, polygamy  is  prohibited  also. 

This  second  assumption,  therefore,  that  polyg- 
amy and  divorce  are  known  to  be  sins  by  moral 
principles  and  not  by  prohibitory  precepts,  is  swept 
away  by  the  words  of  Christ,  and  the  teaching  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  These  unauthorized  and  dan- 
gerous assumptions  are  the  foundation,  upon 
which  the  Abolition  structure  is  made  to  rest  by 
the  distinguished  Dr.  Wayland. 


OP  SLAVERY.  95 

The  facts  with  respect  to  polygamy  and  divorce, 
warrant  precisely  the  opposite  conclusion;  that 
is,  that  if  slavery  under  the  gospel  is  sinful,  then 
its  sinfulness  would  have  been  made  known  by 
the  gospel,  as  has  been  done  with  respect  to 
polygamy  and  divorce.  All  three,  polygamy, 
divorce  and  slavery,  were  sanctioned  by  the  law 
of  Moses.  But  under  the  gospel,  slavery  has  been 
sanctioned  in  the  church,  while  polygamy  and 
divorce  have  been  excluded  from  the  church.  It 
is  manifest,  therefore,  that  under  the  gospel, 
polygamy  and  divorce  have  been  made  sins,  by 
prohibition,  while  slavery  remains  lawful  because 
sanctioned  and  continued.  The  laiofulness  of  sla- 
very under  the  gospel,  rests  upon  the  sovereign 
pleasure  of  Christ,  in  permitting  it;  and  the  sin- 
fulness of  polygamy  and  divorce,  upon  his  sover- 
eign pleasure  in  prohibiting  their  continuance. 
The  law  of  Christ  gives  to  the  relation  of  slavery 
its  full  sanction.  That  lata  is  to  be  found,  first, 
in  the  admission,  by  the  Apostles,  of  slaveholders 
and  their  slaves  into  the  gospel  church ;  second, 
in  the  positive  injunction  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  of 
obedience  on  the  part  of  Christian  slaves  in  this 
relation,  to  their  believing  masters;  third,  in  the 
absence  of  any  injunction  upon  the  believing  mas- 
ter, under  any  circumstances,  to  dissolve  this 
relation;  fourth,  in  the  absence  of  any  instruction 
from  Christ  or  the  Apostles,  that  the  relation  is 
sinful;  and  lastly,  in  the  injunction  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  delivered  by  Paul,  to  withdraiv  from  all 
such  as  teach  that  this  relation  is  sinful.     Human 


96  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

conduct  in  exact  accordance  with  the  law  of 
Christ  thus  proclaimed,  and  thus  expounded  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  conduct  and  teaching  of 
the  Apostles,  cannot  be  sinful. 

There  are  other  portions  of  God's  Word,  in 
the  light  of  which  we  may  add  to  our  stock  of ; 
knowledge  on  this  subject.  For  instance,  the 
Almighty  by  Moses  legalized  marriage  between 
female  slaves  and  Abraham's  male  descendants. 
But  under  this  law  the  wife  remained  a  slave 
still.  If  she  belonged  to  the  husband,  then  this 
law  gave  freedom  to  her  children  ;  but  if  she 
belonged  to  another  man,  then  her  children, 
though  born  in  lawful  wedlock,  were  hereditary 
slaves. — Fxod.  xxi :  4.  Again,  if  a  man  marries 
his  own  slave,  then  he  lost  the  right  to  sell  her — ■ 
if  he  divorced  her,  then  she  gained  her  freedom. 

/  Deut.  xxii :  10  to  14,  inclusive.  Again,  there 
was  a  law  from  God  which  granted  rights  to 
Abraham's  sons  under  a  matrimonial  contract ; 
for  a  violation  of  the  rights  conferred  by  this  law, 
a,  free  ivo?nan,  and  her  seducer,  forfeited  their  lives, 
Deut.  xxi:  23  and  24;  also  13  to  21,  inclusive. 
But  for  the  same  offence,  a  slave  only  exposed 
herself  to  stripes,  and  her  seducer  to  the  penalty 
of  a  sheep. — Levit.  xix :  20  to  22,  inclusive. 
Again,  there  was  a  law  which  guarded  his  peo- 
ple, whether  free  or  bond,  from  personal  violence. 
If  in  vindictiveness,  a  man  with  an  unlawful 
weapon,  maimed  his  own  slave  by  knocking  out 
/ /  his  eye,  or  his  tooth,  the  slave  was  to  be  free  for 

/     this  wanton  aet  of  personal  violence,  as  a  penalty 


OF  SLAVERY.  97 

upon  the  master. — Exod.  xxi :  26  to  27,  inclusive. 
But  for  the  same  offence,  committed  against  a 
free  person,  the  offender  had  to  pay  an  eye  for  an 
eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  as  the  penalty, 
Levit.  xxiv ;  19,  20,  and  Exod.  xxi :  24  and  25, 
inclusive.  Again,  there  was  a  law  to  guard  the 
personal  safety  of  the  community  against  danger- 
ous stock.  If  an  ox,  known  to  be  dangerous,  was 
suffered  to  run  at  large  and  kill  a  person,  if  the 
person  so  killed  was  free,  then  the  owner  forfeited 
his  life  for  his  neglect, — Exod.  xxi :  29.  But  if 
the  person  so  killed  ivas  a  slave,  then  the  offender 
was  fined  thirty  shekels  of  silver. — Exod.  xxi : 
33.  In  some  things,  slaves  among  the  Israelites, 
as  among  us,  were  invested  with  privileges  above 
hired  servants — they  were  privileged  to  eat  the 
Passover,  but  hired  servants  were  not,  Exod.  xii : 
44,  45  ;  and  such  as  were  owned  by  the  priests 
and  Levites  were  privileged  to  eat  of  the  holy 
things  of  their  masters,  but  hired  servants  dare 
not  taste  them. — Levit.  xxii:  10,  11.  These  are 
statutes  from  the  Creator  of  man.  They  are  cer- 
tainly predicated  upon  a  view  of  things,  in  the 
Divine  mind,  that  is  somewhat  different  from  that 
which  makes  an  Abolitionist ;  and,  to  say  the 
least,  they  deserve  consideration  with  all  men 
who  worship  the  God  of  the  Bible,  and  not  the 
God  of  their  own  imagination.  They  show  very 
clearly,  that  our  Creator  is  the  author  of  social, 
moral,  and  political  inequality  among  men. 
That  so  far  from  the  Scriptures  teaching,  as  Abo- 
litionists do,  that  all  men  have  ever  had  a  divine 


\ 


98  SCRIPTUBAL    VIEW 

right  to  freedom  and  equality,  they  show,  in  so 
many  words,  that  marriages  were  sanctioned  of 
God  as  lawful,  in  which  he  enacted,  that  the  chil- 
dren of  free  men  should  be  born  hereditary  slaves. 
They  show  also,  that  he  guarded  the  chastity  of 
the  free  by  the  price  of  life,,  and  the  chastity  of 
//  the  slave  by  the  rod.  They  show,  that  in  the 
/  judgment  of  God_,  the  life  of  a  free  man  in  the 
days  of  Moses.,  was  too  sacred  for  commutation, 
while  a  fine  of  thirty  shekels  of  silver  was  suffi- 
cient to  expiate  for  the  death  of  a  slave.  As  I 
said  in  my  first  essay,  so  I  say  now,  this  is  a  con- 
troversy between  Abolitionists  and  their  Maker. 
I  see  not  how,  with  their  present  views  and  in 
their  present  temper,  they  can  stop  short  of 
blasphemy  against  that  Being  who  enacted  these 
laws. 

Of  late  years,  some  obscure  passages  (which 
have  no  allusion  whatever  to  the  subject)  have 
*  been  brought  forward  to  show,  that  God  hated 
|  slavery,  although  the  work  of  his  own  hands.' 
'  Once  for  all,  I  challenge  proof,  that  in  the  Old 
Testament  or  the  New,  any  reproof  ivas  ever 
uttered  against  involuntary  slavery,  or  against  any 
abuse  of  its  authority.  Upon  Abolition  principles, 
this  is  perfectly  unaccountable,  and  of  itself,  is 
an  unanswerable  argument  that  the  relation  is 
not  sinful. 

The  opinion  has  been  announced  also  of  late, 
that  slavery  among  the  Jews  was  felt  to  be  an 
evil,  and,  by  degrees,  that  they  abolished  it.  To 
ascertain  the  correctness  of  this  opinion,  let  the 


OF    SLAVERY.  99 

following  consideration  be  weighed :  After  cen- 
turies of  cruel  national  bondage  practised  upon 
Abraham's  seed  in  Egypt,  they  were  brought  in 
godly  contrition  to  pour  out  "the  effectual  fervent 
prayer"  of  a  righteous  people,  to  the  Almighty 
for  mercy,  and  were  answered  by  a  covenant  God, 
who  sent  Moses  to  deliver  them  from  their  bon- 
dage— but  let  it  be  remembered,  that  when  this 
deliverance  from  bondage  to  the  nation  of  Egypt 
was  vouchsafed  to  them,  they  were  extensive 
domestic  slave  owners.  God  had  not  by  his  provi- 
dential dealings,  nor  in  any  other  way,  shown 
them  the  sin  of  domestic  slavery — for  they  held 
on  to  their  slaves,  and  brought  them  out  as  their 
property  into  the  wilderness.  And  it  is  worthy 
of  further  remark,  that  the  Lord,  before  they  left 
Egypt,  recognized  these  slaves  as  property,  which 
they  had  bought  with  their  money,,  and  that  he 
secured  to  these  slaves  privileges  above  hired 
servants,  simply  because  they  tuere  slaves. — Exod. 
xii:  44,  45.  And  let  it  be  noticed  further,  that 
the  first  law  passed  by  the  Almighty  after  pro- 
claiming the  ten  commandments  or  moral  con- 
stitution of  the  nation,  was  a  law  to  regulate 
property  rights  in  hereditary  slaves,  and  to  regu- 
late property  rights  in  Jewish  hired  servants  for 
a  term  of  years. — Exod.  xxii:  1  to  6,  inclusive. 
And  let  it  be  considered  further,  that  when  the 
Israelites  were  subjected  to  a  cruel  captivity  in 
Babylon,  more  than  eight  hundred  years  after 
this,  they  were  still  extensive  slave-owners;  that 

when  humbled   and  brought  to  repentance  for 
e2 


100  SCRIPTURAL  VIEW 

their  sins3  and  the  Lord  restored  them  to  their 
own  land  again,  that  he  brought  them  back  to 
their  old  homes  as  slave-owners.  Although 
greatly  impoverished  by  a  seventy  years'  captivity 
in  a  foreign  land,  yet  the  slaves  which  they 
brought  up  from  Babylon  bore  a  proportion  of 
nearly  one  slave  for  every  five  free  persons  that 
returned,  or  about  one  slave  for  every  family. — 
Ezra  ii:  64,  65.  Now,  can  we,  in  the  face  of  these 
facts,  believe  they  were  tired  of  slavery  when 
they  came  up  out  of  Egypt?  It  had  then  existed 
■five  hundred  years.  Or  can  we  believe  they  were 
tired  of  it  when  they  came  up  from  Babylon? 
It  had  then  existed  among  them  fourteen  hun- 
dred years.  Or  can  we  believe  that  God  put 
them  into  these  schools  of  affliction  in  Egypt  and 
Babylon  to  teach  them,  (and  all  others  through 
them,)  the  sinfulness  of  slavery,  and  yet,  that  he 
brought  them  out  without  giving  them  the  first 
hint  that  involuntary  slavery  was  a  sin?  And 
let  it  be  further  considered,  that  it  was  the  busi- 
ness of  the  prophets  which  the  Lord  raised  up,  to 
make  knoiun  to  them  the  sins  for  which  his  judgments 
were  sent  upon  them.  The  sins  which  he  charged 
upon  them  in  all  his  visitation  are  upon  record. 
Let  any  man  find  involuntary  slavery  in  any  of 
God's  indictments  against  them,  and  I  will  retract 
all  I  have  ever  written. 

In  my  original  essay,  I  said  nothing  of  Paul's 
letter  to  Philemon,  concerning  Onesimus,  a  runa- 
way slave,  converted  under  Paul's  preaching  at 
Rome;  and  who  was  returned  by  the  Apostle, 


OF  SLAVERY.  101 

with  a  most  affectionate  letter  to  his  master, 
entreating  the  master  to  receive  him  again,  and 
to  forgive  him.  0,  how  immeasurably  different  11 
Paul's  conduct  to  this  slave  and  his  master,  from.  * f 
the  conduct  of  our  Abolition  brethren !  Which 
are  we  to  think  is  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God? 
It  is  impossible  that  both  can  be  guided  by  that 
Spirit,  unless  sweet  water  and  bitter  can  come 
from  the  same  fountain.  This  letter,  of  itself,  is 
sufficient  to  teach  any  man,  capable  of  being 
taught  in  the  ordinary  way,  that  slavery  is  not, 
in  the  sight  of  God,  what  it  is  in  the  sight  of  the 
Abolitionists. 

I  had  prepared  the  argument  furnished  by  this 
letter  for  my  original  essay;  I  afterwards  struck 
it  out,  because  at  that  time,  so  little  had  the 
Bible  been  examined  at  the  North  in  reference  to 
slavery,  that  the  Abolitionists  very  generally 
thought  this  was  the  only  scripture  which  South- 
ern slaveholders  could  find,  giving  any  coun- 
tenance to  their  views  of  slavery.  To  test  the 
correctness  of  this  opinion,  therefore,  I  determined 
to  make  no  allusion  to  it  at  that  time. 

Now,  my  dear  sir,  if,  from  the  evidence  con- 
tained in  the  Bible  to  prove  slavery  a  lawful 
relation  among  God's  people  under  every  dispen- 
sation, the  assertion  is  still  made,  in  the  very 
face  of  this  evidence,  that  slavery  has  ever  <been 
the  greatest  sin — everywhere,  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances— can  you,  or  can  any  sane  man  bring 
himself  to  believe,  that  the  mind  capable  of  such 
e3 


\[ 


102  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

a  decision,  is  not  capable  of  trampling  the  Word 
of  God  under  foot  upon  any  subject? 

If  it  were  not  known  to  be  the  fact,  we  could 
not  admit  that  a  Bible-reading  man  could  bring 
himself  to  believe,  with  Dr.  Wayland,  that  a 
thing  made  lawful  by  the  God  of  heaven,  was, 
notwithstanding,  the  greatest  sin — and  that  Moses 
under  the  law,  and  Jesus  Christ  under  the  gospel, 
had  sanctioned  and  regulated  in  practice,  the 
greatest  sin  known  on  earth — and  that  Jesus  had 
left  his  church  to  find  out  as  best  they  might, 
that  the  law  of  God  which  established  slavery 
under  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  precepts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  which  regulate  the  mutual  duty  of 
master  and  slave  under  the  New  Testament,  were 
laws  and  precepts,  to  sanction  and  regulate  among 
the  people  of  God  the  greatest  sin  which  was  ever 
perpetrated. 

It  is  by  no  means  strange  that  it  should  have 
taken  seventeen  centuries  to  make  such  discoveries 
as  the  above,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that  these 
discoveries  were  made  at  last  by  men  who  did  not 
appear  to  know,  at  the  time  they  made  them, 
what  was  in  the  Bible  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
and  who  now  appear  unwilling  that  the  teachings 
of  the  Bible  should  be  spread  before  the  people — 
this  last  I  take  to  be  the  case,  because  I  have 
been  unable  to  get  the  Northern  press  to  give  it 
publicity. 

Many  anti-slavery  men  into  whose  hands  my 
essays  chanced  to  fall,  have  frankly  confessed  to 


OP  SLAVERY.  103 

me,  that  in  their  Bible  reading,  they  had  over- 
loooked  the  plain  teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
taking  what  they  read  in  the  Bible  about  masters 
and  servants,  to  have  reference  to  hired  servants 
and  their  employers. 

You  ask  me  for  my  opinion  about  the  emanci- 
pation movement  in  the  State  af  Kentucky.  I 
hold  that  the  emancipation  of  hereditary  slaves 
by  a  State  is  not  commanded,  or  in  ,any  way  re- 
quired by  the  Bible.  The  Old  Testament  and 
the  New,  sanction  slavery,  but  under  no  circum- 
stances enjoin  its  abolition,  even  among  saints. 
Now,  if  religion,  or  the  duty  we  owe  our  Creator, 
was  inconsistent  with  slavery,  then  this  could  not 
be  so.  If  pure  religion,  therefore,  did  not  re- 
quire its  abolition  under  the  law  of  Moses,  nor 
in  the  church  of  Christ — we  may  safely  infer, 
that  our  political,  moral,  and  social  relations  do 
not  require  it  in  a  State ;  unless  a  State  requires 
higher  moral,  social,  and  religious  qualities  in  its 
subjects,  than  a  gospel  church. 

Masters  have  been  left  by  the  Almighty,  both      / 
under  the  patriarchal,  legal,  and  gospel  dispen-  // 
sations,  to  their  individual  discretion  on  the  sub- 
ject of  emancipation. 

The  principle  of  justice  inculcated  by  the  Bible, 

refuses  to  sanction,  it  seems  to  me,  such  an  outrage 

upon  the  rights  of  men,  as  would  be  perpetrated 

by  any  sovereign  State,  which,  to-day,  makes  a 

thing    to   be   property,  and  to-morrow,  takes  it 

from  the  lawful  owners,  without  political  necessity 

or  pecuniary  compensation.    Now,  if  it  be  morally 
e4 


104  SCRIPTURAL    VIEW 

right  for  a  majority  of  the  people  (and  that 
majority  possibly  a  meagre  one,  who  may  not 
own  a  slave)  to  take,  without  necessity  or  com- 
pensation, the  property  in  slaves  held  by  a  mi- 
nority, (and  that  minority  a  large  one,)  then  it 
would  be  morally  right  for  a  majority,  without 
property,  to  take  anything  else  that  may  be  law- 
fully owned  by  the  prudent  and  care-taking  por- 
tion of  the  citizens. 

As  for  intelligent  philanthropy,  it  shudders  at 
the  infliction  of  certain  ruin  upon  a  whole  race  of 
helpless  beings.  If  emancipation  by  law  is  phi- 
lanthropic in  Kentucky,  it  is,  for  the  same  reasons, 
philanthropic  in  every  State  in  the  Union.  But 
nothing  in  the  future  is  more  certain,  than  that 
such  emancipation  would  begin  to  work  the  deg- 
radation and  final  ruin  of  the  slave  race,  from 
the  day  of  its  consummation. 

Break  the  master's  sympathy,  which  is  in- 
separably connected  with  his  property  right  in 
his  slave,  and  that  moment  the  slave  race  is  placed 
upon  a  common  level  with  all  other  competitors 
for  the  rewards  of  merit;  but  as  the  slaves  are 
inferior  in  the  qualities  which  give  success  among 
competitors  in  our  country,  extreme  poverty  would 
be  their  lot;  and  for  the  want  of  means  to  rear 
families,  they  would  multiply  slowly,  and  die  out 
by  inches,  degraded  by  vice  and  crime,  unpitied 
by  honest  and  virtuous  men,  and  heart-broken  by 
sufferings  without  a  parallel. 
I  So  long  as  States  let  masters  alone  on  this  sub- 
ject, good  men  among  them,  both  in  the  church 


OF  SLAVERY.  105 

and  out  of  it,  will  struggle  on,  as  experience  may 
dictate  and  justify,  for  the  benefit  of  the  slave 
race.  And  should  the  time  ever  come,  when 
emancipation  in  its  consequences,  will  comport 
with  the  moral,  social,  and  political  obligations 
of  Christianity,  then  Christian  masters  will  invest 
their  slaves  with  freedom,  and  then  will  the 
good-will  of  those  follow  the  descendants  of 
Ham,  who,  without  any  agency  of  their  own, 
have  been  made  in  this  land  of  liberty,  their 
providential  guardians.^ 

Yours,  with  affection, 

THORNTON  STRINGFELLOW. 

[  It  is  or  ought  to  be  known  to  all  men,  that  African  slavery  in  the  United 
States  originated  in,  and  is  perpetuated  by  a  social  and  political  necessity,  and 
that  its  continuance  is  demanded  equally  by  the  highest  interests  of  both  races. 
All  writers  on  public  law,  from  Drs.  Channing  and  Wayland,  among  the  Aboli- 
tionists, up  to  the  highest  authorities  on  national  law,  admit  the  necessity  and 
propriety  of  slavery  in  a  social  body,  whenever  men  will  not  provide  for  their 
own  wants,  and  yield  obedience  to  the  law  which  guards  the  rights  of  others. 
The  guardianship  and  control  of  the  black  race,  by  the  white,  in  this  Union,  is 
an  indispensable  Christian  duty,  to  which  we  must  as  yet  look,  if  we  would 
secure  the  well-being  of  both  races.  ] 


e5 


STATISTICAL  VIEW. 


STATISTICAL  VIEW 

OF 

S  L  A.V  E  R  Y  . 


To  satisfy  the  conscientiousness  of  Christians, 
I  published  in  the  Herald,  some  years  past,  Bible 
evidence,  to  prove  slavery  a  lawful  relation  among 
men.  In  a  late  communication  you*  refer  to  this 
essay,  and  express  a  wish  that  it  should  be  re- 
published.    Many  have  expressed  a  similar  wish. 

Some  who  admit  the  legality  of  slavery  in  the 
sight  of  God,  question  the  expediency  of  its  expan- 
sion. It  is  believed  by  them  to  be  an  element 
that  is  hostile  to  the  best  interests  of  society, 
and  therefore,  great  efforts  have  been,  and  are 
now  being  made,  to  exclude  it  from  all  the  new 
States  and  Territories  which  may  hereafter  be 
organized  upon  our  soil. 

"While  the  expediency  of  its  expansion,  or  con- 
tinuance, are  questions  with  which  I  have  not 
heretofore  meddled,  yet  I  hold  their  investigation 
to  be  within  the  legitimate  range  of  Christian 
duty. 

*  This  letter  was  addressed  to  Elder  Jambs  Fife. 


110  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

If  unquestionable  facts  and  experience  warrant 
the  conclusion,  that  while  slavery  is  lawful,  yet  its 
continuance  or  expansion  among  us  is  inexpedient, 
then  let  us  act  accordingly. 

Being  prompted  by  your  request,  I  propose  to 
examine  facts,  which  are  admitted  the  world  over, 
as  evidence  of  prosperity  and  happiness  in  a  com- 
munity, and  to  compare  the  evidence  thus  fur- 
nished in  different  sections  of  our  country,  where 
the  experiment  of  freedom,  and  the  experiment 
of  slavery  have  been  fully  and  fairly  upon  trial 
since  the  commencement  of  our  colonial  existence, 
that  we  may  see,  if  possible,  what  is  true  on  this 
subject.  This  seems  to  be  the  unerring  method 
of  coming  at  the  truth.  And  if  it  shall  appear, 
I  by  such  a  comparison — fairly  made — between 
States  of  equal  age,  where  slavery  and  freedom 
have  had  a  fair  opportunity  to  produce  their 
legitimate  results,  that  in  all  the  elements  of 
prosperity,  slaveholding  States  suffer  nothing  in 
the  comparison — but  that,  in  almost  every  partic- 
ular, are  decidedly  in  advance  of  the  non-slave- 
holding  States,  why  then  we  are  bound  to  let 
the  testimony  of  these  facts  control  our  judg- 
*  ment. 

Every  man  and  woman  in  the  United  States 
should  not  only  be  willing,  but  desirous  to  know, 
what  is  the  matter-of-fact  evidence  on  this  all- 
absorbing  question.  It  is  but  lately  that  any 
method  existed,  of  coming  at  undisputed  facts, 
which  would  throw  light  upon  this  subject.  The 
Congress  of  the  United  States  seeing  this,  thought 


OP  SLAVERY.  Ill 

proper  to  order  that  such  facts  as  tend  to  demon- 
strate the  relative  prosperity  of  the  different  States 
of  the  Union,  in  religion — in  morals — in  the  ac- 
quisition of  wealth — in  the  increase  of  native 
population — in  the  prolongation  of  life — in  the 
diminution  of  crime3  &c,  &c,  should  he  ascer- 
tained, under  oath,  hy  competent  and  responsible 
agents,  and  that  these  facts  should  he  published 
at  the  national  expense  for  the  benefit  of  the  peo- 
ple :  so  that  the  people  could,  understandingly, 
apply  the  corrective  for  evils  that  might  be  found 
to  exist  in  one  locality,  and  profit  by  a  knowledge 
of  the  greater  prosperity  that  might  be  found  to 
exist  in  another  locality. 

Up  to  that  time,  the  non-slaveholding  States 
affirmed,  and  the  slaveholding  States  tacitly  ad- 
mitted, that  by  this  test,  the  slaveholding  States 
must  suffer  in  the  comparison,  in  some  important 
items.  The  facts  which  belong  to  the  subject, 
are  now  before  the  world,  in  the  census  of  1850. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  compare  some  of  the  most 
important  of  these  facts,  which  have  a  bearing  on 
this  subject.  I  shall  take  for  the  most  part,  the 
six  New  England  States,  on  one  side,  and  the  five 
old  slave  States,  (extending  from,  and  including 
Maryland  and  Georgia,)  on  the  other  side,  for  the 
comparison. 

I  select  these  States,  not  because  they  are  the 
richest,  (for  they  are  not,)  but  because  they  all 
lie  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  Union — because 
they  were  all  settled  at  or  near  the  same  time — 
because  they  have  (within  a  fraction)  an  equal 


112  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

free  population — and  because  it  has  been  con- 
stantly affirmed,  and  almost  universally  admitted, 
that  the  advantages  of  freedom,  and  the  disad- 
vantages of  slavery,  have  been  more  perfectly 
developed  in  these  two  sections,  than  they  have 
been  anywhere  else  in  the  United  States.  There 
have  been  no  controlling  circumstances  at  any 
time,  since  their  first  settlement,  to  neutralize  the 
advantages  of  freedom  on  the  one  side,  or  to 
modify  the  evils  of  slavery  on  the  other.  Their 
mutual  tendencies,  without  let  or  hindrance,  have 
been  in  full  and  free  operation  for  more  than  two 
centuries.  This  is  surely  a  length  of  time  quite 
sufficient  to  test  the  question  now  in  controversy 
between  the  North  and  the  South,  as  to  the  evils 
of  slavery. 

The  first  facts  I  shall  examine  are  those  which 
throw  light  on  the  progress  made  in  each  of  these 
two  localities  in  religion.  Of  all  the  evils 
ascribed  to  slavery  by  the  free  men  of  the  North, 
none  equals,  in  their  estimation,  its  deleterious 
tendency  upon  religion  and  morals.  Indeed,  such 
is  the  moral  character,  ascribed  by  many  at  the 
North,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  to  a 
Southern  slaveholder,  that  no  degree  of  personal 
piety,  of  which  he  can  be  the  subject,  will  bring 
them  to  admit  that  he  is  anything  but  a  God- 
abhorred  miscreant,  utterly  unfit  for  the  asso- 
ciation of  honorable  men,  much  less  Christian 
men. 

In  the  outset  of  this  examination,  let  me  re- 
mark, that  it  is  just  and  proper,  in  a  comparative 


OF  SLAVERY.  113 

estimate  of  the  tendency  of  freedom  and  slavery 
upon  religion  and  morals,  in  these  two  sections  of 
our  country,  that  due  allowance  be  made  for  the 
moral  and  religious  character  of  the  materials  by 
which  these  two  sections  were  originally  settled. 
New  England  was  settled  by  Puritans,  who  were 
remarkable  for  orthodox  sentiments  in  religion — 
for  high-toned  religious  conscientiousness,  and  a 
rigid  personal  piety ;  while  these  five  slave  States 
were  either  settled,  or  received  character  from 
Cavaliers,  who  rather  scoffed  at  pure  religion,  and 
were  highly  tinged  with  infidelity. 

The  stream  does  not,  in  its  flow  onward,  carry 
with  more  certainty  the  characteristics  of  the 
fountain,  than  does  progressive  society,  generally, 
the  moral,  social,  and  religious  characteristics  of 
its  origin.  The  Hve  slave  States,  in  this  compari- 
son originated  in  a  people  of  loose  morals — 
strongly  tinged  with  infidelity — and  subjected, 
also,  in  their  onward  progress,  to  all  the  evil 
tendencies  (if  any  there  be)  that  are  ascribed  to 
slavery. 

At  the  end  of  more  than  two  centuries,  we  are 
comparing  the  progress  which  these  Hve  slave 
States  have  made  in  religion,  with  the  progress 
made  by  six  non-slaveholding  States,  whose  sub- 
jects, when  originally  organized  into  communities, 
were  in  advance,  in  personal  piety  and  religious 
conscientiousness,  of  any  communities  that  had 
then  been  founded  since  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles— and  that  have  been,  in  their  onward  pro- 
gress, from  that  time  until  this,  free  from  all  the 


114  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

supposed  evils  of  slavery.  If  infidelity  and  slav- 
ery be  antagonistic  elements,  almost,  if  not 
altogether,  too  strong  for  moral  control  in  a  com- 
munity, it  certainly  ought  not  to  seem  strange, 
that  with  this  original  odds  against  them,  these 
■Rye  old  slave  States  should  be  found  very  far  be- 
hind their  more  highly  favored  Northern  neigh- 
bors in  religious  attainments. 

Eeligion  being,  at  present,  the  subject  of  com- 
parison,  it  may  be  appropriate  to  remark  fur- 
ther, that  the  Christian  religion  is  propagated 
by  God's  blessing  upon  the  observance  of  his 
laws. 

.  The  fundamental  law  of  God,  for  its  propagation 
requires  the  gospel  to  be  preached  to  every  crea- 
ture ;  because,  in  the  divine  plan,  faith  in  the 
gospel  was  to  make  men  Christians.  The  gospel 
was  to  be  made  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation, 
to  every  one  that  believeth.  This  faith  was  to  be 
originated  by  hearing  the  gospel,  for  "faith  comes 
by  hearing."  All  those  efforts,  therefore,  in  a 
community^  which  manifest  the  greatest  solicitude 
on  the  part  of  the  people,,  that  the  gospel  should 
be  heard,  is  credible  evidence  that  the  people  who 
make  these  efforts,  are  the  friends  of  Christ,  and 
well-wishers  to  his  cause.  Now,  all  those  means 
which  are  most  likely  to  secure  the  ear  of  the 
people,  are  left  by  Christ  to  the  discretion  of  his 
friends.  They  may  use  the  market-places — the 
highways — the  forests — or  any  other  place,  which 
in  their  judgment  is  most  likely  to  get  the  ear  of 
the  people  when  the  gospel  is  proclaimed.     By 


OF  SLAVERY.  115 

common  consent,  however,  within  the  limits  of 
Christian  civilization,  they  have  agreed  that 
suitable  houses,  in  which  the  people  can  meet  to 
hear  the  gospel,  are  the  most  suitable  and  proper 
means  for  securing  the  audience  of  the  people, 
and  as  a  consequence,  the  transforming  power  of 
the  gospel  upon  the  hearts  and  lives  of  those  wTho 
hear. 

With  these  views  to  guide  us  in  estimating  the 
value  of  the  facts  to  be  examined,  we  proceed  to 
disclosures  made  by  the  census  of  1850.  We 
there  learn  that  the  free  population  of  New  Eng- 
land is  two  million  seven  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  thousand  and  sixteen ;  and  that  the  free 
population  of  these  five  old  slave  States  is  two 
million  seven  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fourteen  ;  an  excess  of  only  two 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight.  This 
fraction  we  will  drop  out,  and  speak  of  them  as 
equals.  New  England,  then,  with  an  equal  pop- 
ulation, has  erected  four  thousand  six  hundred 
and  seven  churches  ;  these  five  slave  States  have 
erected  eight  thousand  and  eighty-one  churches. 
These  New  England  churches  will  accommodate 
one  million  eight  hundred  and  ninety-three  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  fifty  hearers ;  the  churches 
of  the  five  slave  States  will  accommodate  two 
million  eight  hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand 
four  hundred  and  seventy-two  hearers.  Thus  we 
see  that  these  slave  States,  with  an  equal  free 
population,  have  erected  nearly  double  the  num- 
ber of  churches,  and  furnished  accommodation  for 


116  STATISTICAL   VIEW 

upwards  of  a  million  more  persons,  to  hear  the 
gospel,  than  can  be  accommodated  in  New  Eng- 
land. In  New  England,  nine  hundred  and  thirty 
four  thousand,  five  hundred  and  sixty-six  of  its 
population  (which  is  nearly  one-third)  are  ex- 
cluded from  a  seat  in  houses  built  for  the  purpose 
of  enabling  people  to  hear  the  gospel ;  while  in 
these  five  Southern  States,  there  is  room  enough 
for  every  hearer  that  could  be  crowded  into 
the  churches  of  New  England,  and  then  enough 
left  to  accommodate  more  than  a  million  of 
slaves. 

Including  slaves,  these  five  Southern  States 
have  a  population  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  four  hundred  and  ten  more  than  New 
England  ;  yet  while  there  are  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  four  hundred  and  ten  persons 
less  in  New  England  to  provide  for,  there  are 
two  hundred  thousand  more  persons  in  New 
England  who  can't  find  a  seat  in  the  house  of 
God  to  hear  the  gospel,  than  there  are  in  these 
five  slave  States. 

The  next  fact  set  forth  in  the  census,  which  I 
will  examine,  is  equally  suggestive.  These  four 
thousand  six  hundred  and  seven  churches  in  New 
England  are  valued  at  nineteen  million  three 
huudred  and  sixty-two  thousand  six  hundred  and 
thirty-four  dollars.  These  eight  thousand  and 
eighty-one  churches  in  the  five  slave  States  are 
valued  at  eleven  million  one  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighteen  dollars. 
Here  is  an  immense  expenditure  in  New  England! 


OP    SLAVERY.  117 

to  erect  churches ;  yet  we  see  that  those  New  En- 
gland churches,  when  erected,  will  seat  one  mil- 
lion three  thousand  and  twenty-two  persons  less 
than  those  erected  by  the  slave  States,  at  a  cost  of 
eight  million  one  hundred  and  thirteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars  less  money. 
What  prompted  to  such  an  expenditure  as  this? 
Was  it  worldly  pride?  or  was  it  godly  humility? 
Does  it  exhibit  the  evidence  of  humility,  and  a 
desire  to  glorify  God,  by  a  provision  that  shall 
enable  all  the  people  to  hear  the  gospel?  or  does 
it  exhibit  the  evidence  of  pride,  that  seeks  to 
glorify  the  wealthy  contributors,  who  occupy  these 
costly  temples  to  the  exclusion  of  the  humble 
poor?  We  must  all  draw  our  own  conclusions. 
A  mite,  given  to  God  from  a  right  spirit,  was  de- 
clared by  the  Saviour  to  be  more  than  all  the 
costly  gifts  of  wealthy  pride,  which  were  cast  into 
the  offerings  of  God.  The  Saviour  informed  the 
messenger  of  John  the  Baptist,  that  one  of  the 
signs  by  which  to  decide  the  presence  of  the 
Messiah,  was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
poor  had  the  gospel  preached  to  them.  When 
we  exclude  the  poor,  we  may  safely  conclude  we 
exclude  Christ. 

It  is  legitimate  to  conclude,  therefore,  that  all 
the  arrangements  found  among  a  people,  which 
palpably  defeat  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to 
the  poor^  are  arrangements  which  throw  a  shade 
of  deep  suspicion  upon  the  character  of  those 
who  make  them.  Costly  palaces  were  never 
built  foi  the  poor ;  they  are  neither  suitable  nor 


118  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

proper  to  secure  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to 
every  creature. 

There  is  still  another  fact  revealed  in  the  cen- 
sus, that  furnishes  material  for  reflection  when 
the  effects  of  slavery  upon  religion  are  being 
tried.  The  six  New  England  States  were  origin- 
ally settled  by  orthodox  Christians — by  men  who 
manifested  a  very  high  regard  for  the  interests  of 
pure  religion;  the  five  slave  States,  by  men  who 
scoffed  at  religion,  and  who  were  subjected,  also, 
to  the  so-called  curse  of  slavery;  yet,  at  the 
end  of  over  two  hundred  years,  we  have  to  deduct 
from  the  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  seven 
churches  built  up  by  New  England  orthodoxy 
and  freedom,  the  astonishing  number  of  two  hun- 
dred and  two  Unitarian,  and  two  hundred  and 
eighty-five  Universalist  churches — while  from  the 
five  slave  States,  we  have  to  deduct  from  the 
eight  thousand  and  eighty-one  churches  which 
they  have  built,  only  one  Unitarian,  and  seven 
Universalist  churches.  New  England  regards 
these  four  hundred  and  eighty-seven  churches, 
which  she  has  built,  to  be  the  product  of  blind 
guides,  that  are  leaders  of  the  blind.  Is  it  not 
strange  (she  herself  being  judge)  that  New  Eng- 
land orthodoxy  and  personal  freedom  should  beget 
this  vast  amount  of  infidelity;  while  slaveholders 
and  slavery  have  begotten  so  little  of  it  in  the 
same  length  of  time?  Is  there  nothing  in  all 
this  to  render  the  correctness  of  Northern  views 
questionable,  as  to  the  deleterious  tendency  of 
slavery?     The  facts,  however,  are  given  to  the 


.OF  SLAVERY.  110 

world  in  the  census  of  1850.  All  are  left  to  draw 
from  these  facts  their  own  conclusions.  One  of 
these  conclusions  must  be,  that  there  is  something 
else  in  the  world  to  corrupt  religion  and  morals, 
besides  slaveholders  and  slavery. 

It  is  not  improper  to  refer  to  some  historical 
facts  in  this  connection,  which  are  not  in  the 
census,  but  which,  nevertheless,  we  all  know  to 
exist.  There  are  isms  at  the  North  whose  name 
is  Legion.  According  to  the  universal  standard 
of  orthodoxy j  we  are  compelled  to  exclude  the 
subjects  of  these  isms  from  the  pale  of  Christianity. 
What  the  relative  proportion  is,  North  and  South., 
of  such  of  these  isms  as  have  been  nurtured  into 
organized  existence,  we  have  no  certain  means  of 
knowing — and  I  do  not  wish  to  do  injustice,  or  to 
be  offensive,  in  statements  which  are  not  suscepti- 
ble of  proof  by  facts  and  figures — yet,  I  suppose 
that  in  the  iiYQ  slave  States,  a  man  might  wear 
himself  out  in  travel,  and  never  find  one  of  these 
isms  with  an  organized  existence.  To  find  a 
single  individual,  would  be  doing  more  than 
most  men  have  done,  with  whom  I  am  acquain- 
ted. But  how  is  it  in  New  England?  The  soil 
seems  to  suit  them — they  grow  up  like  Jonah's 
gourd.  Some  are  warring  with  great  zeal  against 
the  social,  and  some  against  the  religious  institu- 
tions of  society.  Why  is  this?  The  institution 
of  slavery  has  not  produced,  at  the  North,  the 
moral  obliquity,  out  of  which  they  grow — a 
reverence  for  the  Bible  has  not  produced  it.  How 
is  their  existence,  then,  to  be  accounted  for  at  the 


120  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

North,  under  institutions,  whose  tendency  is  sup- 
posed to  be  so  favorable  to  moral  and  religious 
prosperity?  And  how  is  their  utter  absence  to 
be  accounted  for  at  the  South,  where  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  is  supposed  to  be  so  fatal  to 
morality,  religion  and  virtue?  I  will  leave  it  for 
others  to  explain  this  fact.  It  is  a  mysterious 
fact,  according  to  the  modes  of  reasoning  at  the 
North.  It  is  assumed  by  the  North,  that  slavery 
tends  to  produce  social,  moral  and  religious  evils. 
This  assumption  is  flatly  contradicted  by  the  facts 
of  the  census.  These  facts  never  can  be  explained 
by  the  New  England  theory.  There  was  an  ancient 
theory  y  held  by  men  who  were  righteous  in  their 
own  eyes,  that  no  good  thing  could  come  out  of 
Nazareth.  By  that  theory  Christ  himself  was 
condemned.  It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that 
his  friends  should  share  the  same  fate. 

The  next  disclosure  of  the  census,  which  we 
will  compare,  are  those  which  relate  to  the  social 
prosperity  of  a  people.  Are  they  wealthy?  are 
they  healthy?  are  they  in  conditions  to  raise 
families,  &c? 

These  questions  indicate  the  elements  which 
belong  to  the  item  now  to  be  examined.  States 
are  made  up  of  families.  Wealth  is  a  blessing  in 
those  States  which  have  it  so  distributed,  as  to 
give  the  greatest  number  of  homes  to  the  families 
which  compose  them.  Wealth,  so  distributed  in 
States,  as  to  diminish  the  number  of  homes,  is  a 
curse  to  the  families  which  compose  them.  Home 
is  the  nursery  and  shield  of  virtue.     No  right- 


OP  SLAVERY.  121 

minded  man  or  woman,  who  had  the  means, 
could  ever  consent  to  have  a  family  without  a 
home;  and  no  State  should  make  wealth  her 
boast,  whose  families  are  extensively  without 
homes. 

New  England  has  five  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  fi.ve  hundred  and  thirty-two  families, 
and  four  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  dwellings.  The  five 
slave  States  have  five  hundred  and  six  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  sixty-eight  families,  and  four 
hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand  three  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  dwellings.  Here  we  see  the  as- 
tonishing fact,  that  with  an  equal  population, 
New  England  has  eleven  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty-four  more  families  than  these  five  slave 
States,  and  that  these  five  slave  States  have 
forty-eight  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty 
more  dwellings  than  New  England — so  that  New 
England  actually  has  seventy  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  forty-three  families  without  a  home. 
In  New  England  one  family  in  every  seven  is 
without  a  home,  while  in  these  live  old  slave 
States  only  one  family  in  every  fifty-two  is  without 
a  home. 

According  to  the  average  number  of  persons 
composing  a  family,  New  England  has  three 
hundred  and  seventy- three  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred of  her  people  thrown  upon  the  world  with- 
out a  place  to  call  home. 

It  is  truly  painful  to  think  of  the  effects  upon 
morals  and  virtue,  which  must  flow  from  this 


122  STATISTICAL   VIEW 

state  of  things ;  and  it  is  a  pleasure  to  a  philan- 
thropic heart  to  think  of  the  superior  condition 
of  the  slave-holding  people,  who  so  generally 
have  homes,  where  parents  can  throw  the  shield 
of  protection  around  their  offspring,  and  guard 
them  against  the  dangers  and  demoralizing  ten- 
dencies of  an  unprotected  condition. 

There  is  another  class  of  facts,  equally  aston- 
ishing, disclosed  by  the  census,  and  which 
belong  to  the  comparison  we  are  now  making, 
between  States  which  were  organized  originally 
by  Puritan  orthodoxy  and  New  England  freedom 
on  one  side,  and  by  infidel  slaveholders  and 
slavery  on  the  other.  They  are  facts  which  re- 
late to  natural  increase  in  a  State.  One  of  the 
boasts  of  Northern  freemen  is  the  increase  of 
their  population.  With  such  a  climate  as  New 
England,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  people 
would  increase  faster,  and  live  longer,  than  in 
the  climate  of  these  Hve  slave  States.  It  is  well 
known  that  a  large  portion  of  the  population  of 
these  five  Southern  States  have  a  fatal  climate  to 
contend  with,  and  that  everywhere  else  on  the 
globe,  under  similar  circumstances,  a  diminished 
increase  of  births,  and  an  increased  amount  of 
deaths  has  been  the  result.  But  the  census,  as  if 
disregarding  climate,  and  slavery,  and  the  uni- 
versal experience  of  all  ages,  testifies  that  there 
is  twenty-seven  per  cent,  more  of  births,  and 
thirty-three  per  cent,  less  of  deaths  in  the  live 
old  slave  States,  than  there  is  in  the  six  New 
England  States. 


OF  SLAVERY.  123 

New  England,  with  an  equal  population,  and 
eleven  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty -four  more 
families,  has  sixteen  thousand  Rve  hundred  and 
thirty-four  less  annual  births,  and  ten  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  more  annual  deaths, 
than  these  five  sickly  old  Southern  slave  States. 
The  annual  births  in  New  England  are  sixty-one 
thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-eight;  and  in 
the  five  slave  States  seventy-seven  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighty-three.  In  New  England  the 
annual  deaths  are  forty-two  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-eight;  in  the  five  slave  States 
thirty- two  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixteen. 

In  New  England  the  ratio  of  births  is  one  to 
forty-four ;  in  the  five  slave  States  one  to  thirty- 
five.  In  New  England  the  ratio  of  deaths  is  one 
to  sixty-four ;  in  the  five  slave  States  it  is  one  to 
eighty-five. 

The  slaves  are  not  in  this  estimate  of  births 
and  deaths ;  they  are  in  the  census,  however,  and 
that  shows  that  they  multiply  considerably  faster, 
and  are  less  liable  to  die  than  the  freemen  of 
New  England. 

Here  are  facts  which  contradict  all  history  and 
all  experience.  In  a  sickly  Southern  climate, 
among  slaveholders,  people  actually  multiply 
faster,  and  die  slower,  than  they  do  among  free- 
men without  slavery,  in  one  of  the  purest  and 
healthiest  Northern  climates  in  the  world.  How 
is  this  to  be  accounted  for?  Why  do  people 
multiply  rapidly?     Is  it  because   they  live  in  a 

healthy  climate?     Why  do  they  die  rapidly?     Is 
f2 


124  STATISTICAL  VIEW 

it  because  they  live  in  a  sickly  climate?  Our 
census  contradicts  both  suppositions.  Where, 
then,  does  the  cause  lie?  Will  excluding  slavery 
from  a  community  cause  them  to  multiply  more 
rapidly  and  die  slower?     The  census  says,  No! 

The  census  testifies  that  the  proportion  of 
births  is  twenty-seven  per  cent,  greater,  and  the 
proportion  of  deaths  thirty-three  per  cent,  less, 
among  slaveholders,  in  a  community  where  slav- 
ery has  existed  for  more  than  two  hundred  years, 
under  all  the  disadvantages  of  a  sickly  climate, 
than  among  free  men  in  the  pure  climate  of  New 
England.  A  man,  in  his  right  mind,  will  de- 
mand an  explanation  of  these  astonishing  facts. 
They  are  easily  explained.  The  census  discloses 
a  degree  of  poverty  in  New  England,  which  scat- 
ters seventy  thousand  families  to  the  four  winds 
of  heaven,  and  feeds  (as  we  shall  presently  see) 
the  poor-Jwuse,  with  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
per  cent,  more  of  paupers  than  is  found  in  these 
slave  States.  This  is  no  condition  of  things  to 
increase  births,  or  diminish  deaths,  unless  broth- 
els give  increase,  and  squalid  poverty  the  requisite 
sympathy  and  aid,  to  recover  the  sick  and  dying, 
from  the  period  of  infancy  to  that  of  old  age. 

We  proceed  to  compare  other  facts,  which  have 
a  bearing  upon  the  relative  merits  of  different  in- 
stitutions in  securing  social  prosperity. 

In  every  country  there  is  a  class  to  be  found  in 
such  utter  destitution,  that  they  must  either  be 
supported  by  charity,  or  perish  of  want.  This 
destitution  arises,  generally,  from  oppressive  ex- 


OF   SLAVER Y.  125 

actions  or  excessive  vice,  and  is  evidence  of  the 
tendency  of  social  institutions,  and  the  superior- 
ity of  one  over  another,  in  securing  the  greatest 
amount  of  individual  prosperity  and  comfort. 

With  these  views  to  aid  us,  we  will  compare 
some  facts  belonging  to  New  England  and  these 
five  old  slave  States.  With  an  equal  population, 
New  England  has  thirty-three  thousand  four 
hundred  and  thirty-one  paupers ;  these  Slvq  slave 
States  have  fourteen  thousand  two  hundred  and 
twenty-one.  Here  is  an  excess  of  paupers  in  New 
England,  notwithstanding  her  boasted  prosperity  > 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  per  cent,  over  these 
five  slave  States.  And  if  to  these  continual  pau- 
pers we  were  to  add  the  number  (as  given  in  State 
returns)  that  are  partially  aided  in  New  England, 
the  addition  would  be  awful.  But  I  suppose  New 
England  will  strive  to  wipe  off  this  stain  of  regu- 
lar pauperism,  by  throwing  the  blame  of  it  upon 
the  foreigners  among  them.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered, however,  as  an  offset  to  this,  that  these  for- 
eigners are  all  from  non-slaveholding  countries. 
From  their  infancy  they  have  shared  the  bless- 
ings of  freedom  and  free  institutions;  therefore 
they  ought  to  be  admitted,  as  homogeneous  ma- 
terials, in  the  social  organizations  of  New  En- 
gland, which  we  are  now  comparing  with  South- 
ern slaveholding  communities. 

But  as  foreign  paupers  are  distinguished  in  the 

census  from  native-born  citizens,  we  will  now  (in 

the  comparison)  exclude  them  in  both  sections. 

The  number  of  paupers  will  then  be,  for  New 

f3 


126  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

England,  eighteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
sixty-six ;  for  the  five  slave  States,  eleven  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  twenty-eight — leaving 
to  New  England,  which  is  considered  the  model 
section  of  the  world  in  all  that  is  lovely  in  reli- 
gious and  social  prosperity,  seven  thousand  two 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  more  of  her  native  sons 
in  the  poor-house,  (or  nearly  seventy  per  cent.,) 
than  are  to  be  found  in  this  condition  in  an  equal 
population  in  these  five  Southern  States. 

The  ratio  of  New  England's  native  sons  in  the 
poor-house  is  one  to  one  hundred  and  forty-three; 
of  these  five  slave  States  one  to  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four.  The  ratio  of  New  England's  entire 
population  in  the  poor-house  is  one  to  eighty-one ; 
the  ratio  of  the  entire  population  of  these  Hve 
slave  States  is  one  to  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
one. 

The  Saviour  asks  if  a  good  tree  can  bring  forth 
evil  fruit,  or  an  evil  tree  good  fruit.  Here  is  an 
exhibition  of  the  fruit  borne  by  New  England 
freedom  and  Southern  slavery.  The  Saviour  gives 
every  man  a  right  to  judge  the  tree  by  the  fruit, 
and  declares  such  to  be  righteous  judgment. 

There  is  another  item  in  the  census  which 
throws  much  light  on  the  comparative  comfort 
and  happiness  of  the  people  in  these  two  locali- 
ties. It  is  neither  physical  destitution,  criminal 
degradation,  nor  mental  suffering  ;  but  it  is  an 
effect  which  is  known  to  flow  from  one;  or  the 
other,  or  all  three  of  these  conditions  as  causes ; 
therefore  it  is  an  important  item  in  determining 


OF  SLAVERY.  Igt 

the  amount  of  destitution,  degradation  and  suffer- 
ing, which  exist  in  a  community. 

When  we  see  effects  which  are  known  to  flow 
from  certain  causes — the  causes  may  be  conceal- 
ed— yet  we  know  that  they  exist  by  the  effects  we 
see.  With  these  remarks  I  proceed,  to  state  a 
fact  disclosed  in  the  census,  as  it  exists  in  New 
England,  and  as  it  exists  in  these  five  old  slave 
States. 

In  New  England,  with  an  equal  population, 
we  find  that  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  of  her  white  children  have  been 
crushed  by  sufferings  of  some  sort,  to  the  condi- 
tion of  insanity,  while  in  these  five  old  slave 
States  there  are  only  two  thousand  three  hundred 
and  twenty-six  of  her  white  children  who  have 
been  called  to  suffer,  in  their  earthly  pilgrimage, 
a  degree  of  anguish  beyond  mental  endurance. 
Here  is  a  difference  of  more  than  sixty  per  cent, 
in  favor  of  these  five  States,  as  to  conditions  of 
suffering  that  are  beyond  endurance  among  men. 
Very  poor  evidence  this,  of  the  superior  happiness 
and  comfort  of  New  England. 

But  while  her  white  children  are  called  to  suf- 
fer over  sixty  per  cent,  more  of  these  crushing 
sorrows  than  those  of  these  five  States,  how  is  it 
with  her  black  children  in  freedom,  compared 
with  the  family  here  in  slavery _,  from  which  the 
most  of  them  have  fled,  that  they  might  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  liberty?    It  is  exceedingly  interesting 

to  see  the  benefits  and  blessings  which  New  Eng- 
f4 


128  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

land  freedom  and  Puritan  sympathy  have  confer- 
red upon  them. 

Here  are  the  facts  of  the  census  upon  this 
subject : 

Among  the  free  negroes  of  New  England,  one 
is  deaf  or  dumh  for  every  three  thousand  and 
five ;  while  among  the  slaves  of  these  States 
there  is  only  one  for  every  six  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two.  In  New  England  one  free 
negro  is  hlind  for  every  eight  hundred  and  sev- 
enty ;  while  in  these  States  there  is  only  one 
blind  slave  for  every  two  thousand  six  hundred 
and  forty-five.  In  New  England  there  is  one 
free  negro  insane  or  an  idiot  for  every  nine  hun- 
dred and  eighty;  while  in  these  States  there  is 
but  one  slave  for  every  three  thousand  and 
eighty. 

Can  any  man  bring  himself  to  believe,  with 
these  facts  before  him,  that  freedom  in  New  Eng- 
land has  proved  a  blessing  to  this  race  of  people, 
or  that  slavery  is  to  them  a  curse  in  the  Southern 
States?  In  non-slaveholding  States,  money  will 
be  the  master  of  poverty.  The  facts  enumerated 
show  the  fruits  of  such  a  relation  the  world  over. 
The  slave  of  money,  while  nominally  free,  has 
none  to  care  for  him  at  those  periods,  and  in 
those  conditions  of  his  life,  when  he  is  not  able 
to  render  service  or  labor.  Childhood,  old  age, 
and  sickness,  are  conditions  which  make  sympa- 
thy indispensable.  Nominal  freedom,  combined 
with  poverty,  cannot  secure  it  in  those  conditions, 


OP   SLAVERY.  129 

because  it  cannot  render  service  or  labor.  Tbe 
slave  of  tbe  Soutb  enjoys  tbis  sympathy  in  all 
conditions  from  birth  till  death.  There  is  a 
spontaneous  heart-felt  flow  of  it,  to  sooth  his 
sorrows,  to  supply  his  wants,  and  to  smooth  his 
passage  to  tbe  grave.  Interest,  honor,  humani- 
ty, public  opinion,  and  the  law,  all  combine  to 
awaken  it,  and  to  promote  its  activity. 

Many  facts  of  the  character  here  examined 
have  been  disclosed  in  State  statistics,  and  otbers 
in  the  Federal  census;  some  of  which  I  shall 
hereafter  notice,  that  show  with  the  most  unques- 
tionable certainty,  that  freedom  to  this  race,  in 
our  country,  is  a  curse. 

The  facts  which  we  have  now  examined,  if 
they  prove  anything,  prove  that  religion  has  pros- 
pered more  among  slaveholders  at  the  South, 
than  it  has  among  free  men  in  New  England. 
Slaveholders  have  made  a  much  more  extensive 
and  suitable  provision  for  the  people  of  all  classes 
to  hear  the  gospel,  than  has  been  made  by  the 
freemen  of  New  England.  Slaveholders  have 
almost  entirely  frowned  down  the  attempts  of 
blind-guides  to  corrupt  the  gospel,  or  mislead  the 
people.  Among  them  organized  bodies  to  over- 
throw the  moral,  social,  and  religious  institutions 
of  society,  are  unknown. 

If  the  facts  already  examined  prove  anything, 

they  prove  that  wealth,  among  slaveholders,   is 

much  more  equally  distributed — so  that  very  few, 

compared  with  New  England,  are  without  homes. 

The  facts  examined  prove  also,  beyond  ques- 
f5 


130  STATISTICAL  VIEW 

tion,  that  the  unbearable  miseries  which  have 
their  source  in  the  heartless  exactions  of  exces- 
sive wealth,  or  extreme  poverty,  are  more  than 
sixty  per  cent,  greater  in  New  England  than  in 
these  States,  and  that  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
per  cent,  more  of  New  England's  toiling  millions 
have  to  bear  the  degradation  of  the  poor-house, 
or  die  of  want,  than  are  to  be  found  in  this  con- 
dition in  these  five  slave  States. 

The  facts  we  have  examined,  prove  also,  that 
under  all  the  disadvantages  of  climate,  the  natu- 
ral increase  of  the  slave  States  is  sixty  per  cent, 
greater  than  it  is  in  New  England — twenty-seven 
per  cent,  of  it  by  increased  annual  births,  aud 
thirty-three  per  cent,  of  it  by  diminished  annual 
deaths.  These  are  the  most  astonishing  facts 
ever  presented  to  the  world.  They  speak  a  lan- 
guage that  ought  to  be  read  and  studied  by  all 
men.  In  the  present  state  of  our  country  they 
ought  to  be  prayerfully  pondered  and  not  disre- 
garded. 

But  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  aggregate 
wealth  of  New  England  is  a  source  of  exultation 
and  pride  among  her  sons.  They  believe,  with  a 
blind  and  stubborn  tenacity,  that  slavery  tends  to 
poverty,  and  freedom  to  wealth. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  aggregate  earnings 
of  the  toiling  millions — when  Jioarded  by  a  few — 
may  grow  faster  than  it  will  when  these  millions 
are  allowed  to  take  from  it  a  daily  supply,  equal 
to  their   reasonable  wants.     And  it  cannot  be 


OF  SLAVERY.  131 

denied  that  New  England  has  great  aggregate 
wealth. 

The  facts  of  the  census  show,  however,  that  it 
is  very  unequally  divided  among  her  people. 
The  question  now  to  he  tried  is,  whether  the  few 
in  New  England  have  hoarded  this  wealth,  and 
can  now  shoiv  it,  or  whether  they  have  squan- 
dered it  upon  their  lusts,  and  are  unable  to 
show  it. 

This  last  and  prominent  boast  of  increased 
aggregate  wealth  in  New  England,  over  that 
accumulated  by  slaveholders,  we  will  now  test 
by  the  census  of  1850.  This  is  the  standard 
adopted  by  our  National  Legislature  for  its  deci- 
sion. 

Before  we  examine  the  facts,  however,  let  a 
few  reflections  which  belong  to  the  subject  be 
weighed. 

The  people  of  these  five  slave  States  are  now, 
and  ever  have  been,  an  agricultural  people.  The 
people  of  the  New  England  States  are  a  commer- 
cial and  manufacturing  people.  New  England 
has,  in  proportion  to  numbers,  the  richest  and 
most  extensive  commerce  in  the  world.  In  man- 
ufacturing skill  and  enterprise  they  have  no 
superiors  on  the  globe.  They  have  ever  reproach- 
ed the  South  for  investing  their  income  in  slave- 
labor,  in  preference  to  commerce  and  manufac- 
tures. It  has  been  the  settled  conviction  among 
nations,  that  investments  in  commerce  and  man- 
ufactures give  the  greatest,  and  those  in  agricul- 
f6 


132  STATISTICAL   VIEW 

ture  the  smallest  profits.  It  is  the  settled  convic- 
tion of  the  non-slaveholding  States  that  invest- 
ments in  slave-labor,  for  agricultural  purposes,  is 
the  worst  of  all  investments,  and  tends  greatly 
to  lessen  its  profits.  This  has  heen  proclaimed 
to  the  South  so  long  by  our  Northern  neighbors, 
that  many  here  have  heen  brought  to  believe  it, 
and  to  regret  the  existence  of  slavery  among  us 
on  that  account,  if  on  no  other.  With  these 
observations  we  turn  to  the  census. 

The  census  of  1850  tells  us  that  New  England, 
with  a  population  now  numbering  two  million 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  and 
sixteen,  with  all  the  advantages  of  a  commercial 
and  manufacturing  investment,  and  with  the 
most  energetic  and  enterprising  free  men  on 
earth,  to  give  that  investment  its  greatest  pro- 
ductiveness, has  accumulated  wealth,  in  some- 
thing over  two  hundred  years,  to  the  amount  of 
one  billion  three  million  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  dollars; 
while  these  &ve  slave  States,  with  an  equal  popu- 
lation, have,  in  the  same  time,  accumulated 
wealth  to  the  amount  of  one  billion  four  hundred 
and  twenty  million  nine  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy-three  dollars. 

Here  we  see  the  indisputable  fact  that  these 
five  agricultural  States,  with  slavery,  have  accu- 
mulated an  excess  of  aggregate  wealth  over  the 
amount  accumulated  in  New  England  in  the  same 
time,  of  four  hundred  and  seventeen  million  five 
hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand  three  hun- 


OF    SLAVERY.  133 

dred  and  two  dollars — so  that  the  property  be- 
longing to  New  England,  if  equally  divided, 
would  give  to  each  citizen  but  three  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  dollars,  while  that  belonging  to  the 
five  slave  States,  if  equally  divided,  would  give 
to  each  citizen  the  sum  of  five  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars — a  difference  in  favor  of  each  citi- 
zen in  these  five  slave  States  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three  dollars. 

I  am  aware,  however,  of  an  opinion  that  some 
other  non-slaveholding  States,  have  been  much, 
more  successful  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth, 
than  the  six  New  England  States,  and  that  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  are  of  this  favor- 
ed number.  Lest  a  design  to  deceive,  by  conceal- 
ing this  supposed  fact,  should  be  attributed  to  the 
writer,  we  will  see  what  the  census  says  as  to 
these  three  more  favored  States.  By  the  census 
of  1850  we  learn  that  New  York,  instead  of  being 
able  to  divide  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  dol- 
lars with  her  citizens,  as  New  England  could 
with  hers,  is  only  able  to  divide  two  hundred  and 
thirty-one  dollars;  Pennsylvania  two  hundred 
and  fourteen,  and  Ohio  two  hundred  and  nine- 
teen. These  several  averages  among  freemen  at 
the  North,  and  in  New  England,  stand  against 
the  average  of  five  hundred  and  twenty  dollars, 
which  these  five  old  impoverished  Southern  slave 
States  could  divide  with  their  citizens. 

These  facts  must  astonish  our  Northern  neigh- 
bors, so  long  accustomed  to  believe  that  slavery 
was  the  fruitful  source  of  poverty,  with  all  its 


134  STATISTICAL   VIEW 

imagined  evils ;  and  these  facts  will  astonish, 
many  at  the  South,  so  long  accustomed  to  hear  it 
affirmed  that  slavery  had  produced  these  evils, 
and  while  they  were  without  the  means  of  know- 
ing, of  course  they  feared  that  it  was  so. 

That  everything  may  appear,  however,  which 
will  throw  additional  light  on  the  subject,  I  will 
state  that  Massachusetts,  which  is  the  richest  non- 
slaveholding  State,  could  divide  with  each  of  her 
citizens  five  hundred  and  forty-eight  dollars. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  South  Carolina  could 
divide  one  thousand  and  one  dollars,  Louisiana 
eight  hundred  and  six  dollars,  Mississippi  seven 
hundred  and  two  dollars,  and  Georgia  six  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight  dollars,  with  their  citizens. 

Khode  Island,  which  is  the  next  richest  non- 
slaveholding  State  to  that  of  Massachusetts,  could 
divide  with  her  citizens  five  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  dollars;  one  other  non-slaveholding  State 
(Connecticut)  could  divide  with  her  citizens  three 
hundred  and  twenty-one  dollars.  After  this,  the 
next  highest  non-slaveholding  State  could  divide 
two  hundred  and  eighty  ;  the  next  highest  two 
hundred  and  thirty-one;  the  next  highest  two 
hundred  and  twenty-eight ;  the  next  highest  two 
hundred  and  nineteen  ;  the  next  highest  two  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  dollars.  After  this,  the  divi- 
sion ranges,  among  the  non-slaveholding  States, 
from  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  down  to  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  dollars — which  last  sum  is 
the   amount  that  the   so-called  rich   and  pros- 


OF    SLAVERY.  135 

perous  Illinois  could  divide  with  her  popula- 
tion. 

In  the  slaveholding  States  that  are  less  wealthy 
than  South  Carolina^  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and 
Georgia,  already  noticed ;  Alabama  could  divide 
with  her  citizens  five  hundred  and  eleven  dollars; 
Maryland  four  hundred  and  twenty-three  ;  Vir- 
ginia four  hundred  and  three ;  Kentucky  three 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  ;  and  North  Carolina 
three  hundred  and  sixty-seven.  All  these  States 
are  much  richer  than  the  third  richest  non-slave- 
holding  State  of  the  Union,  viz :  Connecticut. 
After  this,  Tennessee  could  divide  two  hundred 
and  forty-eight  dollars,  and  Missouri,  which  is 
the  poorest  of  all  the  slave  States,  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  dollars. 

We  will  now  give  the  general  average  of 
the  non-slaveholding  States,  (California  excepted, 
which  in  1850  had  not  had  time  to  exhibit  any 
fixed  character,)  and  then  the  general  average  of 
the  slave-holding  States  of  the  whole  Union. 

The  population  of  all  the  free  States  is  thirteen 
million  two  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  three 
hundred  and  eighty ;  the  free  population  of  all 
the  slave  States  is  six  million  three  hundred  and 
twelve  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine. 
These  thirteen  million  two  hundred  and  fourteen 
thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty  of  freemen 
have  accumulated  an  aggregate  of  property  esti- 
mated at  three  billion  one  hundred  and  eighty-six 
million  six  hundred  and  eighty-three  thousand 


136  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

eight  hundred  and  twenty-four  dollars;  while 
these  six  million  three  hundred  and  twelve  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine  of  slave- 
holders have  accumulated  an  aggregate  of  two 
billion  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five  million 
one  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand,  six  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  dollars'  worth  of  property. 

Here  we  see  that  a  population  of  Northern  free- 
men, one  hundred  and  nine  per  cent,  greater  than 
the  number  of  Southern  freemen  in  the  slave 
States,  have  accumulated  but  sixteen  per  cent. 
more  of  property. 

In  a  division  of  the  property  accumulated  by 
all  the  non-slaveholding  States,  it  will  give  to 
each  citizen  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars; 
while  all  accumulated  by  the  various  slave  States, 
will  give  to  each  citizen  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  dollars — nearly  double.  Were  we  to  give 
the  slaves  an  equal  share  with  the  whites,  in  an 
average  division  of  aggregate  wealth,  the  slave- 
holding  States,  with  their  slaves  included,  would 
then  be  able  to  give  each  person  two  hundred  and 
ninety-one  dollars  instead  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-three  dollars,  which  is  all  the  free  States 
have  to  divide  with  their  people. 

Is  it  possible,  with  these  facts  before  us,  to 
believe  that  slavery  tends  to  poverty.  Such  is 
the  testimony  of  the  census  on  the  relative  wealth 
of  these  two  sections  of  our  country.  It  proves 
that  slavery,  as  an  agricultural  investment,  is 
more  profitable  than  an  investment  in  commerce 
and  manufactures.     The  facts  which  have  been 


OF   SLAVERY.  137 

reviewed  prove  with  equal  clearness,  that  where 
slavery  exists,  the  white  race,  and  the  "black,  have 
prospered  more  in  their  religious,  social  and 
moral  condition,  than  either  race  has  prospered, 
where  slavery  has  heen  excluded.  We  see  that 
an  increased  amount  of  poverty  and  wretched- 
ness has  to  he  home  in  New  England  hy  hoth 
races.  Ecclesiastical  statistics  will  show  an  in- 
creased amount  of  prosperity  in  religion  that  is 
overwhelming. 

Such  is  the  prostration  of  moral  restraint  at 
the  North,  that,  in  their  cities,  standing  armies 
are  necessary  to  guard  the  persons  and  property 
of  unoffending  citizens,  and  to  execute  the  laws 
upon  reckless  offenders.  This  state  of  things  is 
unknown  in  the  slave  States. 

The  census  shows  that  slavery  has  heen  a  bless- 
ing to  the  white  race  in  these  slave  States.  They 
have  prospered  more  in  religion,  they  have  more 
homes,  are  wealthier,  multiply  faster,  and  live 
longer  than  in  New  England,  and  they  are  ex- 
empt from  the  curse  of  organized  infidelity  and 
lawless  violence. 

A  comparison  of  the  slave's  condition  at  the 
South,  with  that  of  his  own  race  in  freedom  at 
the  South,  shows  with  equal  clearness,, that  slav- 
ery, in  these  States,  has  been,  and  now  is,  a  bless- 
ing to  this  race  of  people  in  all  the  essentials  of 
human  happiness  and  comfort.  Our  slaves  all 
have  homes,  are  bountifully  provided  for  in 
health,  cared  for  and  kindly  nursed  in  childhood, 
sickness  and  old  age;  multiply  faster,  live  longer, 


138  STATISTICAL   VIEW 

are  free  from  all  the  corroding  ills  of  poverty  and 
anxious  care,  labor  moderately,  enjoy  the  bless- 
ings of  the  gospel,  and  let  alone  by  wicked  men, 
are  contented  and  happy. 

Ex-Governor  Smith,  a  few  years  past,  in  his 
message  to  the  Legislatures  of  this  State,  showed, 
if  I  remember  correctly,  that  seven-tenths  more 
of  crime  was  chargeable  to  free  negroes  than  to 
the  whites  and  slaves.  By  the  census  of  1850, 
the  ratio  of  whites  in  the  Penitentiary  of  Vir- 
ginia, for  ten  years,  was  one  to  twenty- three 
thousand  and  three,  while  the  ratio  for  the  free 
negroes  was  one  to  three  thousand  and  one.  For 
the  same  length  of  time,  in  the  Penitentiary  of 
Massachusetts,  the  average  of  whites  was  one  to 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-seven, 
instead  of  one  to  twenty-three  thousand  and 
three,  as  in  Virginia;  and  in  Massachusetts  the 
average  of  free  negroes  in  the  Penitentiary,  for 
this  length  of  time,  was  one  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty,  instead  of  one  to  three  thousand  and  one, 
as  in  Virginia.  Here  we  see  that  for  an  average 
of  ten  years,  two  hundred  and  fifty  free  negroes 
at  the  North,  commit  annually  as  much  crime  as 
twenty-three  thousand  and  three  white  persons  at 
the  South  ;  and  that  two-hundred  and  fifty  free 
negroes,  in  a  non-slaveholding  State,  commit 
annually  as  much  crime  as  three  thousand  and 
one  free  negroes  in  a  slavehol cling  State.  We 
see,  also,  that  seven  thousand  five  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  white  persons  at  the  North,  commit 
annually  as  much  crime  as  twenty- three  thousand 


OF  SLAVERY.  139 

and  three  white  persons  commit  at  the  South.  In 
the  cities,  criminal  degradation  at  the  North  is 
from  three  to  five  times  greater  with  the  whites 
than  at  the  South,  and  from  ten  to  ninety-three 
times  greater  with  the  free  negroes  at  the  North, 
than  with  the  whites  at  the  South,  and  about 
twelve  times  greater  than  with  the  free  negroes 
at  the  South. 

The  Federal  census,  and  the  State  records, 
show  not  very  far  from  this  proportion  of  crimi- 
nal degradation,  chargeable  to  this  race  of  people 
when  invested  with  the  freedom  of  New  England. 
Can  we,  with  these  facts  before  us,  think  that 
freedom  to  this  race,  in  our  country,  is  a  blessing 
to  them? 

In  Africa,  the  condition  of  the  aborigines  in 
freedom  is  now,  and  ever  has  been,  as  much  be- 
low that  of  their  enslaved  sons  in  these  States,  as 
the  condition  of  a  brute,  is  beneath  that  of  a 
man.  Slavery  is  becoming,  to  this  people,  so 
manifestly  a  blessing  in  our  country,  that  fugi- 
tives from  labor  are  constantly  returning  to  their 
masters  again,  after  tasting  the  blessings,  or 
rather  the  awful  curse  to  them,  of  freedom  in 
non-slaveholding  States;  and  while  I  write,  those 
who  are  lawfully  free  in  this  State,  are  praying 
our  Legislature  for  a  law  that  will  allow  them  to 
become  slaves. 

But  before  I  dismiss  the  subject  of  wealth  en- 
tirely, let  me  remark,  that  while  the  census 
testifies  that  an  agricultural  people,  with  African 
slave-labor,   increases  wealth   faster    than    free- 


140  STATISTICAL  VIEW 

labor,  employed  in  agriculture,  manufactures  and 
commerce,  yet  reason  demands  that  it  should  be 
satisfactorily  accounted  for.  It  is  well  known 
that  laboring  freemen  at  the  North  are  more 
skillful,  work  longer  in  a  day,  labor  harder  while 
at  it,  live  on  cheaper  food,  and  less  of  it,  than 
laborers  at  the  South. 

How,  then,  is  it  to  be  accounted  for  that  the 
aggregate  increase  of  wealth  is  less  with  them 
than  it  is  with  Southern  slaveholders?  Among 
many  reasons  that  might  be  assigned,  I  will 
mention  three.  The  first  is,  that  half  the  people 
at  the  North  (this  is  ascertained  to  be  about  the 
amount)  live  in  villages,  towns  and  cities.  The 
second  reason  is,  that  the  cost  of  living  in  cities 
(as  has  been  ascertained)  is  about  double  what  it 
is  in  the  country — to  this  cost  we  must  add,  for 
the  imprudent  indulgences  of  pride  and  fashion; 
and  to  this  we  must  add,  for  a  thousand  indul- 
gencies,  in  violation  of  moral  propriety,  all  of 
which  are  almost  unknown  in  country  life.  The 
third  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  great  amount  of 
pauperism  and  crime  produced  by  city  life.  In 
the  city  of  New  York,  for  instance,  according  to 
the  American  Almanac,  there  were  received  in 
1847,  at  the  principal  alms-houses  of  he  city, 
twenty-eight  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  persons,  and  out-door  relief  was  given  from 
the  public  funds  to  thirty-four  thousand  five 
hundred  and  seventy-two  more — making  in  all 
seventy-three  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  persons,  or  one  out  of  every  five,  in  the  city 


OF  SLAVERY.  141 

of  New  York,  dependent,  more  or  less,  on  public 
charity.  The  total  cost  of  this,  to  the  city,  was 
three  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-three  dollars  and  eighty-eight 
cents.  In  1849,  in  the  Mayor's  message,  the 
estimate  for  the  same  thing  is  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  In  Massachusetts,  according 
to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  in  1848, 
the  number  of  constant  and  occasional  paupers, 
in  the  whole  State,  was  one  to  every  twenty  of 
the  whole  population.  The  proportion  in  the 
cities,  I  suppose,  would  equal  New  York,  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  one  to  five.  To  this  public 
burden  in  cities  we  must  add  an  immense  unknown 
amount  of  private  charity,  which  is  not  needed  in 
country  life. 

Crime  in  Northern  cities  keeps  pace  with 
pauperism.  In  Boston,  according  to  official  State 
reports  a  few  years  past,  one  person  out  of  every 
fourteen  males,  and  one  out  of  every  twenty-eight 
females,  was  arraigned  for  criminal  offences. 
According  to  the  census  of  1850,  there  were  in 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  population  of 
nine  hundred  and  ninety-four  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  fourteen,  the  number  of  seven  thousand 
two  hundred  and  fifty  convictions  for  crime.  In 
Virginia,  the  same  year,  in  a  population  of  one 
million  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand 
six  hundred  and  sixty-one,  there  were  one  hun- 
dred and  seven  convictions  for  crime. 

In  the  State  of  New  York  the  proportion  of 
crime  is  about  the  same  as  in  Massachusetts.     In 


142  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

the  city  of  New  York,  in  1848  or  1849,  there 
were  sentenced  to  the  State  Prison  one  hundred 
and  nineteen  men  and  seventeen  women;  to  the 
Penitentiary  seven  hundred  men  and  one  hundred 
and  seventy  women ;  to  the  City  Prison  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  men  and  sixty-seven  women — 
making  a  total  of  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  criminals.  Here  is  an  amount  of  crime 
in  a  single  city,  that  equals  all  in  the  fifteen  slave 
States  together.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  ac- 
cording to  the  census  of  1850,  there  was,  in  a 
population  of  three  million  and  ninety-seven 
thousand  three  hundred  and  four,  the  number  of 
ten  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine  con- 
victions for  crime;  while  in  South  Carolina,  in 
a  population  of  six  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
thousand  Hve  hundred  and  seven,  (which  is  con- 
siderably over  one-fifth)  there  were  only  forty-six 
convictions  for  crime. 

To  live  in  cities  filled  with  such  an  amount  of 
poverty  and  criminal  degradation,  as  the  census 
discloses,  at  the  North,  standing  armies  of  police- 
men, firemen,  &c.,  are  absolutely  necessary  to 
secure  the  people  against  lawless  violence.  Now 
substract  from  the  products  of  labor  the  cost  of 
city  life — the  cost  of  vain  and  criminal  indulgen- 
cies,  the  support  of  paupers,  and  the  machinery  to 
guard  innocence  and  punish  crime — and  the 
wonder  ceases  that  wealth  accumulates  slowly — 
the  wonder  is  that  it  accumulates  at  all.  What  is 
accumulated,  must  be  principally  from  commerce 
and  manufactures.      The  system  of  abandoning 


OF   SLAVERY.  14o 

the  country  and  congregating  in  cities,  tends 
directly  to  concentrate  wealth  into  the  hands  of  a 
few,  and  to  diffuse  poverty  and  crime  among  the 
masses  of  the  people. 

The  facts  of  poverty  and  crime  at  the  North, 
which  are  exhibited  by  the  census,  will  help  to 
explain  the  seeming  mystery  that  the  South  mul- 
tiplies by  natural  increase  faster  than  the  North. 
In  1845,  according  to  her  statistical  report, 
Massachusetts  had  seven-eighths  of  her  marriage- 
able young  women  working  in  factories  under 
male  overseers.  The  census  of  1840  shows  that, 
with  fewer  adults,  Virginia  had  one  hundred 
thousand  more  children  than  Massachusetts.  In 
the  census  of  1850  the  proportion  in  favor  of 
Virginia  is  still  greater. 

Pauperism,  in  Massachusetts  and  New  York, 
according  to  the  State  census,  increased  between 
1836  and  1848  ten  times  faster  than  wealth  or 
population. 

In  the  slaveholding  States  there  is  less  than  a 
tenth  of  the  people  in  cities — pauperism  is  almost 
unknown — the  people  are  on  farms — the  style  of 
living  is  less  costly  by  half,  but  greatly  superior 
in  quality  and  comfort — according  to  the  census, 
there  is  but  little  crime — almost  all  have  homes — 
the  amount  of  agricultural  labor  does  not  fluctu- 
ate— the  farms  are  not  cultivated  lay  the  spade 
and  hoe,  but  are  large  enough  to  justify  a  system 
of  enlarged  agricultural  operations  by  the  aid  of 
horse  power.  The  result  is  that  more  is  saved, 
and  the  proceeds   more  equally   distributed  be- 


144  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

tween   capital   and  labor,   or  the  rich   and   the 
poor. 

The  South  did  not  seek  or  desire  the  responsi- 
bility, and  the  onerous  burden,  of  civilizing  and 
christianizing  these  degraded  savages;  but  G-od, 
in  his  mysterious  providence,  brought  it  about. 
He  allowed  England,  and  her  Puritan  sons  at  the 
North,  from  the  love  of  gain,  to  become  the 
willing  instruments,  to  force  African  slaves  upon 
the  Cavaliers  of  the  South.  These  Cavaliers 
were  a  noble  race  of  men.  They  remonstrated 
against  this  outrage  to  the  last.  They  preferred 
indented  labor  from  the  mother  country,  which 
they  were  securing  as  they  needed  it.  A  de- 
scendant of  theirs,  in  drafting  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  made  this  outrage  one  of  the 
prominent  causes  for  dissolving  all  political  con- 
nection with  the  mother  country.  But  God  in- 
tended (as  we  now  see)  to  bless  these  savages,  by 
forcing  us  against  our  wills,  to  become  their 
masters  and  guardians  ;  and  he  has  abundantly 
blessed  us,  also,  (as  we  now  see)  for  allowing  his 
word  to  be  our  counsellor  in  this  relation.  We 
were  forced  by  his  word  to'  admit  the  relation  to 
be  lawful,  and  he  enabled  us  to  admit  and  feel 
the  great  responsibility  devolved  upon  us  as  their 
divinely  appointed  protectors. 

The  North,  after  pocketing  the  price  of  these 
savages,  refused  to  bear  any  part  of  the  burden  of 
training  and  elevating  them ;  and  finally,  with 
France  and  England,  turned  them  loose  by  eman- 
cipation, and  ignored  the  Word  of  God  in  justifi- 


OF  SLAVERY.  145 

cation  of  the  deed;,  by  declaring  that  to  hold 
them  in  slavery  was  sinful.  The  result  is,  that 
the  portion  they  held  of  this  degraded  race,  is 
immersed  in  poverty,  wretchedness  and  crime, 
without  a  parallel  in  civilized  communities,  and 
are  less  in  number  now,  than  the  original  impor- 
tations from  Africa,  (so  says  the  Superintendent 
of  the  census ;)  while  the  portion  held  by  us  is  in 
high  comfort,  regularly  improving  in  morals  and 
intellect,  and  multiplying  more  rapidly  than  the 
white  race  at  the  North.  It  does  seem,  from  the 
facts  of  the  census,  that  this  (so-called)  philan- 
thropy has  been  a  curse  to  both  races,  at  the 
North,  and  in  the  West  Indies,  and  that  it  is  dis- 
pleasing in  the  sight  of  God.  The  census  ex- 
hibits unmistakable  evidence  that,  without  a 
change,  the  emancipated  portion  of  the  race,  in 
these  localities,  will  ultimately  perish,  and  that 
this  catastrophe  is  to  be  hastened  by  poverty  and 
criminal  degradation.  The  census  shows  that 
those  who  are  responsible  for  this  deed  are  sub- 
jected in  our  country,  by  annual  births  and  deaths, 
to  a  decrease  of  sixty  per  cent.,  and  to  a  much 
heavier  per  cent,  than  this,  of  poverty  and  crime. 

But  while  these  are  the  results  to  both  races  at 
the  North,  prosperity,  unequaled  in  the  annals 
of  the  world,  has  attended  us  (as  the  census 
shows)  in  almost  everything  we  have  put  our 
hands  to,  both  for  this  life  and  that  which  is  to 
come.  The  satisfaction  is  ours,  also,  of  Tcnoiving 
that  these  degraded  outcasts,  which  were  thrown 
upon  our  hands,  have  not  only  been   cared  for, 


146  STATISTICAL  VIEW 

but  elevated  in  the  scale  of  being,  and  brought  to 
share  largely  in  the  blessings  of  intellectual, 
social  and  religious  culture. 

But  for  their  enslaved  condition  here,  they 
would  have  remained  until  this  hour  in  their 
original  degradation. 

In  vieiv  of  all  the  facts  compared,  I  would  ask 
all  who  feel  interested  in  the  great  question  now 
agitating  our  country,  to  let  these  facts  be  their 
guide  and  counsellor  in  deciding  the  issue.  Are 
the  people  of  the  North  warranted  from  these 
facts,  in  believing  they  would  honor  God  and 
benefit  men  by  overthrowing  the  institution  of 
slavery,  if  they  could. 

These  facts  testify  plainly,,  that  where  African 
slavery  has  existed  in  our  country  for  more  than 
two  hundred  years,  the  social  and  religious  con- 
dition of  men  has  improved  more  rapidly  than  it 
lias  under  the  best  arrangements  of  exclusive 
freedom. 

These  facts  show  that,  with  the  advantages  of 
the  best  location  and  climate  upon  the  globe, 
and  a  high  degree  of  moral,  religious  and  social 
intelligence  to  commence  with,  those  communities 
at  the  North  who  excluded  this  element  from  their 
organizations,  are  actually  behind  slaveholding 
communities,  in  religion,  in  wealth,  in  the  in- 
crease of  their  race,  and  in  the  comforts  of  their 
condition.  If  this  be  so,  (and  the  census  testifies 
that  it  is,)  what  will  justify  the  North  in  efforts 
to  involve  both  sections  of  our  country  in  civil 
war  and  disunion,  because  slavery  exists  in  one 


OF   SLAVERY.  147 

section  of  it?  And  if  the  institution  of  African 
slavery  has  certainly  improved  the  condition  of 
both  races  in  our  country,  (and  the  census  testi- 
fies that  it  has,)  why  should  they  hazard  all  the 
blessings  vouchsafed  to  the  North  and  the  South 
sooner  than  suffer  its  expansion  over  new  terri- 
tory? 

The  expansion  of  African  slavery  (according  to 
the  test  by  which  we  are  now  trying  it)  has 
never  yet  done  injury  in  this  Union.  In  Texas 
slaveholders  were  called  to  organize  a  State,  (not 
in  this  Union  at  the  time,)  which  in  1850  had  a 
population  of  two  hundred  and  twelve  thousand 
five  hundred  and  ninety-two.  The  individuals 
composing  it  originally,  were  the  most  lawless  set 
of  adventurers  that  ever  lived.  Did  slavery  dis- 
qualify slaveholders  from  organizing  a  social 
body,  even  out  of  these  materiel s,  that  could 
secure  the  highest  results  in  human  progress? 
What  is  now  the  social,  moral  and  religious  com- 
plexion of  Texas  ?  In  the  essentials  of  prosperity 
it  is  ahead,  under  equal  circumstances,  of  any 
portion  of  the  Union.  Slaveholders,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  had  to  organize  States  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, after  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  from 
France,  and  Florida  from  Spain.  The  original 
materials  (numbering  upwards  of  seventy  thou- 
sand) of  which  these  States  were  composed,  had 
been  trained  under  the  most  pernicious  system  of 
morals  that  ever  existed  among  a  civilized  people. 
The  result  in   this  case,  also,  will  testify  that 


148  STATISTICAL    VIEW 

slavery  does  not  paralyze  communities  in  the 
accumulation  of  wealth,  or  in  the  correction  of 
moral,  social  and  religious  evils.  The  census 
shows  that  in  all  these  items  these  new  slave 
States  which  have  been  added  to  our  Union ,  have 
greatly  outstripped  their  non-slaveholcling  equals 
in  age.  The  temples  of  the  Lord  are  now  seen 
studding  these  slaveholding  localities  over,  and 
are  vocal  with  his  praise — the  moral  majesty  of 
the  law  is  a  paramount  power.  The  amount  of 
paupers  and  criminals,,  in  some  of  them,  is  less 
than  one-seventieth  part  that  is  chargeable  to 
some  of  their  twin  sisters  of  equal  age,  (who  are 
free*)  nurseries  of  literature  and  science  are 
multiplying  rapidly,  and  promising  the  highest 
results — prosperity,  in  these  slaveholding  com- 
munities, is  crowning  the  efforts  of  good  men  to 
arrest  vice,  to  promote  virtue,  to  diminish  want, 
to  create  plenty,  and  to  arrange  the  elements  of 
progress  for  the  highest  social,  moral  and  religious 
results. 

There  is  another  historical  fact  which  deserves 
to  be  weighed,  in  making  up  a  judgment  on  the 
expansion  of  slavery.  Within  the  present  cen- 
tury, the  colonies  of  Mexico  and  South  America, 
in  imitation  of  our  example,  threw  off  the 
colonial  yoke,  and  established  independent  gov- 
ernments. All  of  these  States,  except  one,  pre- 
ferred the  non-slaveholding  model,  and  excluded 
the  element  of  slavery:  that  one,  which  is  Brazil, 

*Texas  and  Michigan:    sec  also,  Arkansas  and  Indiana.  Florida  and  Wis- 
consin. 


OF   SLAVERY.  149 

preferred  the  model  adopted  by  the  Southern 
States  of  this  Union,  and  retained  African  slav- 
ery. 

All  of  those  States,  which  excluded  slavery, 
have  been  visited,  in  rapid  succession,  with  insur- 
rection, revolution,  and  fearful  anarchy ;  while 
Brazil  has  enjoyed  tranquility,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  her  independent  political  existence 
until  the  present  hour.  This  remarkable  fact 
has  occurred,  too,  in  a  State  where  the  slaves  are 
two  to  one  of  the  other  race.  The  slaves  in  the 
United  States  are  one  to  two  of  the  other  race. 
Is  not  this  fact,  like  all  those  examined,  God's 
providential  voice?  and  does  he  not,  in  these  facts, 
speak  a  language  that  we  can  read,  and  under- 
stand f 

Now,  shall  we,  in  view  of  these  facts,  rebel 
against  the  teachings  of  His  providence,  as  it  is 
now  made  known  to  us  in  the  census,  and  claim 
for  ourselves  more  wisdom  than  he  has  displayed, 
in  alloiving  such  results  to  be  the  product  of  slave- 
holding  communities  t 

We  cannot  put  an  end  to  African  slavery,  if  we 
would — and  we  ought  not,  if  we  could — until  God 
opens  a  door  to  make  its  termination  a  blessing, 
and  not  a  curse.  When  He  does  that,  slavery  in 
this  Union  will  end. 

With  Christian  affection,  yours, 

THORNTON   STRINGFELLOW. 


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plates,  12mo  muslin,       -  -  -  -  -  1  23 

dove's  masonic  constitutions, 

12mo  muslin,  -  .      -  -  -  75 

VIRGINIA  STATE  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY  TRANSACTIONS, 

to  1853,  8vo  paper,  -  -  -  -  -  50 

pajot's  obstetric  tables, 

Translated  and  arranged  by  Crenshaw  &  McCaw,  4to  boards,  -  1  25 

physicians'  pocket  tabulated  diary, 

By  a  physician  of  Virginia,  muslin,  -  50 

HISTORY   OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF    VIRGINIA — 

Jefferson  and  Cabell  Correspondence,  8vo  muslin,  -  2  50 

VIRGINIA   RESOLUTIONS   AND   DEBATES,  OF  1798— '9,  * 

new  edition,  8vo  %  calf,  -  _  -  _  l  50 

STATISTICS   OF   VIRGINIA   TO    1850, 

From  official  documents,  8vo  calf,    -  -  -  -  2  50 

PROCEEDINGS    AND    DEBATES    OF    THE    VIRGINIA    CONVENTION, 

of  1829— '30, 8vo  calf,  -  .  .  _  .  2  50 

TUCKER'S  LECTURES  ON  CONSTITUTIONAL  LAW, 

12mo  muslin,  -  _  _  _  75 

TUCKER'S  LECTURES   ON   NATURAL  LAW   AND   GOVERNMENT, 

12mo  muslin,  -  _  _  _  75 

TRIAL  OF   T.    RITCHIE,    JR.,    FOR   KILLING  J.   H.    PLEASANTS, 

8vo  paper,     -  .  .  .  .  '  _  ^ 


